SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew, Drew & Napier LLC
• where the infringement is committed inten - tionally or negligently, pay such financial penalty as the Commission may determine, which may not exceed 10% of a party’s busi - ness turnover in Singapore for each year of infringement, up to a maximum of three years. While there is currently no criminal liability for cartel conduct per se, criminal liability may arise in cartel investigations where, for exam - ple, undertakings or individuals obstruct the Commission in performing its duties or refuse to provide the information requested pursuant to the Commission’s statutory powers. Additionally, third parties who have suffered loss or damages due to a competition law infringe - ment will have a private right of action to seek relief through civil proceedings. Such rights will only arise after the Commission has decided that the Section 34 Prohibition has been infringed and the appeal period has expired, or where an appeal has been brought upon the determination of the appeal. Private actions must be brought within two years from the date of the Commis- sion’s decision or from the determination of the appeal, whichever is later. Relief may be in the form of an injunction or declaration, damages, and such other relief as the court deems fit. 1.3 Private Enforcement Under the Competition Act, there is no private right of action for challenging cartel behaviour or effects. Potential infringements of the Com - petition Act are investigated and decided by the Commission. However, complaints may be made to the Commission, and a formal investi- gation launched if there are reasonable grounds to suspect an infringement of the Section 34 Prohibition.
Third parties may bring a private right of action to seek relief from parties responsible for engag - ing in cartel behaviour after the Commission has made an infringement decision. See 1.2 Regula- tory/Enforcement Agencies and Penalties . 1.4 “Cartel Conduct” As stated in 1.1 Legal Bases , Section 34 of the Competition Act prohibits “agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings or concerted practices that have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within Singapore” . As Section 34 (2) of the Competition Act illus - trates, agreements may have the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competi - tion within Singapore if they: • directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions; • limit or control production, markets, technical development or investment; • share markets or sources of supply; • apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disad - vantage; or • make the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supple - mentary obligations that, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no con - nection with the subject of the contracts. The illustrative list above is not intended to be exhaustive. As set out in the Commission’s Guidelines on the Section 34 Prohibition, other examples of cartel activities are as follows: • joint purchasing or selling; • agreements to share information; • exchanges of price information and/or non- price information;
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