Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP (JD Supra Hong Kong)

On September 23, the Hong Kong Competition Commission (HKCC) released a draft of its “Leniency Policy for Undertakings Engaged in Cartel Conduct.” The draft specifies when the HKCC will refrain from pursuing monetary penalties against an entity in exchange for that entity’s cooperation. The HKCC was created when Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed a competition ordinance in 2012.

On October 9, 2014, the Hong Kong Competition Commission and Communications Authority published draft guidelines under the Hong Kong Competition Ordinance. The guidelines will not be the law; instead, they represent the Commission’s interpretation of the Ordinance and its policies on how the Ordinance will be enforced. The guidelines will, nevertheless, certainly be influential as the...

Historically, Hong Kong has lacked a legal framework for regulating mergers or otherwise deterring conduct that is harmful to competition. The country’s traditional laissez-faire landscape was substantially altered in June 2012, when Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed a sweeping new Competition Ordinance (“Ordinance”) to prohibit anti-competitive conduct and business combinations.