SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew, Drew & Napier LLC
Drew & Napier LLC 10 Collyer Quay 10th Floor Ocean Financial Centre
Singapore 049315 Tel: +65 6535 0733 Fax: +65 6535 4906
Email: mail@drewnapier.com Web: www.drewnapier.com
1. Legislation and Enforcing Authorities 1.1 Merger Control Legislation
1.2 Legislation Relating to Particular Sectors In March 2024, the Significant Investment Review Act 2024 (SIRA) came into force. The SIRA regulates significant investments into criti - cal entities, and aims to safeguard national secu - rity interests. Designated critical entities under the SIRA must notify or seek approval from the Minister for Trade and Industry before undergo - ing changes in ownership or control. Aside from the SIRA, Singapore does not have any general legislation prohibiting or requir - ing consent for foreign transactions or invest - ments, although certain sectors (eg, media and telecommunications) may have laws on foreign ownership. Certain industry sectors, such as telecommu - nications, media, post, gas and electricity, are regulated by industry-specific statutes contain - ing merger control provisions, which are in turn enforced by industry-specific regulators. In particular, the Section 54 Prohibition does not apply to the following mergers specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Competition Act:
The merger control legislation in Singapore is set out in the Competition Act 2004, which is the primary competition legislation in Singapore. In particular, Section 54 of the Competition Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions that have resulted – or may be expected to result – in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) within any market in Singapore (the Section 54 Prohibi - tion). The Competition Act was enacted on 19 Octo - ber 2004 and implemented in phases, with the merger provisions coming into force on 1 July 2007. It is administered and enforced by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Sin - gapore (the Commission), which has issued the following guidelines on how it will interpret and give effect to the merger control provisions in the Competition Act: • Guidelines on Merger Procedures (revised on 1 February 2022); and • Guidelines on the Substantive Assessment of Mergers (revised on 1 February 2022).
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