SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew, Drew & Napier LLC
If the Commission is unable to clear a merger situation after a Phase 1 review, it will inform the applicants of its concerns (the Phase 1 Issues Letter) and indicate that the Commission is unlikely to clear the merger if said concerns are not addressed. If the applicants do not properly address the Commission’s concerns, or if additional information requested by the Commission does not satisfy the Commission that these concerns are unlikely to arise, the Commission will commence a more detailed assessment in a Phase 2 review, upon receiving a completed Form M2. Applicants should include all relevant documents to support statements and explanations made in Form M1, including transaction documents, annual reports and accounts, and business plans. Form M2 lists the further information and supporting documents that may be required by the Commission in a Phase 2 review. If the applicants consider that the merger is likely to go to a Phase 2 review, they may also voluntarily submit the information required in Form M2 at the outset, together with Form M1. Even where Forms M1 and/or M2 have been com - pleted and submitted, the Commission may require additional information from the applicants for the pur - poses of assessing the merger situation. 3.6 Penalties/Consequences of Incomplete or Inaccurate Notification The Commission may refuse to accept an application if it is not: • complete; • accompanied by relevant supporting documents; • substantially in the prescribed form; • accompanied by the appropriate fee; or • in compliance with any requirement prescribed under the Competition Act or accompanying regu - lations. If the application is refused for any non-conformity with the above factors, the Commission will notify the applicant(s) as soon as practicable. The 30 working day indicative timeframe for the Phase 1 review, as discussed further in 3.7 Review Process , will only commence after such non-conformity has been rec -
tified. To avoid any unnecessary delay, merger parties should therefore ensure that the application is com - plete and that all filing requirements are met upon submission. Where the Commission has issued a favourable deci - sion based on information that was incomplete, false or misleading, it may subsequently review and revoke the decision. Persons who recklessly or intentionally provide false or misleading information to the Commission may also be charged and convicted of a criminal offence under Section 77 of the Competition Act. Upon conviction, such persons may face a fine of up to SGD10,000 or imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both. As of 15 May 2026, based on publicly available information, no cases have been brought in respect of such offences under the Competition Act. 3.7 Review Process In general, the Phase 1 review is expected to be com - pleted within 30 working days, commencing on the working day after the day of receipt of a completed application. For merger situations which clearly do not raise any competition concerns, a streamlined assessment will be applied and completed by the Commission within 25 working days. The Commission expects that this streamlined assessment will apply to the majority of merger situations. If the Commission has reasonable grounds to sus - pect that the Section 54 Prohibition may be infringed and a Phase 2 review is required, the Commission will provide the applicant(s) with a Phase 1 Issues Let - ter, setting out the competition concerns identified by the Commission. The Commission will endeavour to complete the Phase 2 review within 100 working days of the applicant(s) submitting a completed Form M2 and a response to the Phase 2 information request that is deemed satisfactory by the Commission. In any event, the indicative timeframe for Phase 2 will only commence after the expiry of the applicable indicative timeframe for the Phase 1 review. At the end of the 100 working days, the Commission will decide whether to issue a favourable or unfavourable decision.
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