Clifford Chance
Antitrust in China and across the region: Quarterly Update January to March 2017
11 April 2017
Key points of interest include the following:
- Latest merger control stats from China – a quiet start to the year following a busy end to 2016 and no significant cases (deals blocked or remedies imposed). There were unconfirmed reports last month about MOFCOM relaxing its stance on VIEs (a form of holding structure used particularly in the internet industry), potentially removing an obstacle for deals involving VIEs to be notified, but this has not been reflected in the latest round of case decisions.
- Still within China, there was an interesting development in relation to antitrust enforcement practice when one of NDRC's provincial counterparts issued a fine on a local pharmaceutical company for obstructing an investigation. The fine was fairly modest (RMB 120,000, approximately USD 17,000) but is potentially significant for future cases. Consistent with recent trends, last quarter's enforcement by both SAIC and NDRC was focused entirely on domestic companies.
- Outside China, bid-rigging was a key priority last quarter – in Hong Kong, the first case was brought to the Competition Tribunal since the Competition Ordinance came into effect in 2015 and involved the alleged submission of fake bids in a server software tender run by a local charity, whilst in Singapore, the Competition Commission issued a proposed infringement decision against three electrical engineering firms for allegedly colluding in relation to a number of tenders. Elsewhere, India extended the scope of the de minimis merger exemption, by removing the requirement to take into account the Seller's turnover in certain circumstances and in Japan, the JFTC issued a warning to a global financial institution for allegedly discussing confidential information with a competitor when mediating market transactions on European government bonds.
