Clifford Chance
Are MOFCOM's new simple merger review rules really simple? [Japanese version]
25 February 2014
On 12 February 2014, China's Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") officially published the merger control regulations on simple mergers, entitled "Interim Regulations on Standards Employed for Simple Cases of Concentrations of Undertakings" ("Simple Mergers Regulations") which came into force with immediate effect.
MOFCOM commenced efforts at streamlining its merger review process in 2012 and released a draft for public consultation on 3 April 2013, defining the types of mergers that will be regarded as "simple" mergers. There are no substantive changes between the version of the regulations that have been enacted to the last draft for public consultation.
Going forward, it is expected that MOFCOM will review and clear simple mergers much more quickly than previously. Although MOFCOM has not given any formal guidance as to the duration of the review of simple mergers, it is expected that simple mergers could possibly be cleared within the Phase 1 review period (30 calendar days).
