SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew, Drew & Napier LLC
Drew & Napier LLC 10 Collyer Quay #10-01 Ocean Financial Centre Singapore 049315
Tel: +65 6535 0733 Fax: +65 6535 4906
Email: mail@drewnapier.com Web: www.drewnapier.com
Overview In Singapore, the primary competition legislation is the Competition Act 2004 (the “Competition Act” ). Broadly, the Competition Act prohibits three main types of anti-competitive conduct: anti- competitive agreements (ie, cartel activities), abuse of dominant position, and mergers and acquisitions that substantially lessen competi - tion. In particular, Section 34 of the Competition Act prohibits cartel activities in respect of “agree- ments between undertakings, decisions by asso- ciations of undertakings or concerted practices which have as their object or effect the pre - vention, restriction or distortion of competition within Singapore” . Such anti-competitive agree - ments prohibited by the Competition Act include bid-rigging, price fixing, production control, and market sharing, among others. The regulatory and enforcement agency in Sin - gapore is the Competition and Consumer Com - mission of Singapore (the “Commission” ), a statutory body established on 1 January 2005 to administer and enforce the Competition Act under the purview of the Ministry of Trade and
Industry. From 1 April 2018, the Commission also assumed responsibility for administering the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act 2003. Powers of the Commission Under the Competition Act, the Commission has various powers of enforcement, including conducting dawn raids under a warrant where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that there are relevant documents on the premises that would be concealed, removed, tampered with or destroyed if the Commission requested their production through a formal notice. If a warrant is granted by the Singapore courts, the warrant may permit the Commission’s offic - ers to: • enter the premises and use such force as is reasonably necessary for the purpose of gain - ing entry; • search any person on the premises if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person has in their possession any document, equipment or article that has a bearing on the investigation; • search the premises and take copies or extracts from any document appearing to be
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