TAIWAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Stephen Wu, Yvonne Hsieh, Wei-Han Wu and Erica Chiu, Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law
ciples in a timely manner. Moreover, when dealing with the issues of killer acquisitions in the future, the TFTC should also consider the benefits arising from tech - nological innovations. Role of privacy in merger review Another of the issues addressed in the White Paper is whether personal data protection is a parameter for assessing competition when reviewing the establish - ment of a new joint venture. Thus far, the TFTC has not included privacy protection in its analysis, but it will start to consider how privacy protection can be internalised in a merger review from the perspective of “quality” competition. Nonetheless, according to the White Paper, if the TFTC wants to examine privacy issues in a merger filing case, it must first determine whether there is competition by the means of privacy protection, and such privacy issues should be considered only when the parties use privacy protection as a way to retain or attract users. In the context of protecting privacy and maintaining competition, the TFTC should con - sider not only the potential disadvantage of a reduc - tion in privacy protection after the merger, but also the potential disadvantage to competition that may result from enhancing privacy protection. The White Paper also recognises the difficulty of quan - tifying the extent and necessity of privacy protection, which can pose a challenge to law enforcement in terms of seeing privacy protection as a “competition on quality”. In the short term, the TFTC may seek the views of privacy and consumer protection authori - ties in order to apply the rule of reason test properly, and to allow for a more comprehensive analysis in the context of merger reviews. In addition, the TFTC will continue to look at how other countries develop a more objective and even quantitative analysis, with a view to improving enforcement. Building upon the White Paper, a study entitled “Research on the Empirical Analysis of Collusive Behaviours in Pricing Strategies in the Digital Econ - omy” (the “Pricing Strategies Research”) constitutes a continuation of the enforcement principles and stances articulated in the White Paper. The Pricing Strategies Research released by the TFTC was hon -
oured by the renowned international competition law publisher Concurrences at the 2025 Antitrust Writing Awards, which serves as a strong indication of the international recognition for the TFTC’s enforcement and policy positions. The Pricing Strategies Research aims primarily to elucidate the relationship between algorithmic pric - ing and concerted actions under the TFTA, examining the impact of algorithms on pricing within the digi - tal retail market. It focuses specifically on identifying whether retail enterprises employ algorithmic pricing, whether such algorithms facilitate collusive behaviour, and the manner in which algorithms may assist in the co-ordination of such behaviour. Notably, the Pricing Strategies Research aligns with the “local nexus” enforcement principle set forth in the White Paper, emphasising the use of empirical data derived from the Taiwanese market as its foundational basis. Although the study centres on issues related to collusive behaviours, it demonstrates the TFTC’s emphasis on economic analysis in cases involving the digital economy. Consequently, it is foreseeable that the TFTC may place particular emphasis on economic analysis and empirical data based on the Taiwanese market in future merger control reviews involving the digital economy sector. Emphasis on Environmental Sustainability Issues To assist enterprises in understanding whether their business practices on environmental sustainability constitute concerted actions under the TFTA, and to ensure free and fair competition in the market, the TFTC issued the “Guidelines on Concerted Actions in the Context of Environmental Sustainability” (the “Guidelines”) on 19 February 2025. Although the Guidelines focus primarily on issues related to con - certed actions and environmental sustainability, they reflect the TFTC’s recent enforcement stance, empha - sising environmental sustainability issues. In this regard, it is foreseeable that the TFTC may extend this enforcement stance to merger control reviews involv - ing environmental sustainability issues in the future. Based on the key strategies for achieving the 2050 net-zero emissions target, the Guidelines map out likely scenarios of future business practices in this
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