Challenges of Competition Law Enforcement in the Digital Era

CCCS Chief Executive, Mr Toh Han Li, participated in a forum 'Challenges of Competition Law Enforcement in (the) Digital Era' hosted by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission from 18 to 19 June 2019.

Mr Toh spoke about the trends and outlooks in international co-operation in competition law enforcement where he shared that there is a declining scope for global cartels, but increasing scope for cross-border merger and Abuse of Dominance cases. In cross-border mergers which has seen an increase in the last few years, Mr Toh said that there is scope for continued co-operation to minimise inconsistent outcomes and coordination of strategic timing of any action.

Mr Toh also noted the uptick in enforcement action against abusive conduct by technology giants and shared that there is increasing scope for co-operation in such abuse of dominance probes. Leading agencies in these investigations can work together with small competition authorities which may not have the resources to pursue a full-scale investigation of their own. There is also potential scope of co-operation through the conduct of joint studies and projects.

Lastly, Mr Toh discussed the tools for international co-operation which includes international trade agreements and bilateral agency-level co-operation agreements.