Hong Kong warning: Hong Kong Competition Commission’s continued enforcement against anti-competitive conduct

February 2020

On 22 January 2020, the Hong Kong Competition Commission (“Commission”) commenced proceedings in the Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) in a case alleging cartel conduct in relation to a bidding exercise for the procurement of IT services. The case is notable in that it marks the first time in which the Commission has issued an infringement notice pursuant to Section 67(2) of the Competition Ordinance (Cap 619) (“Ordinance”), showing the Commission is now considering cases which may be appropriate for settlement rather than directly bringing cases to the Tribunal, and because it is the first proceedings which follow a successful leniency application. These proceedings follow an eventful 2019 for the competition law regime in Hong Kong, a year which also saw the Tribunal hand down its first two major judgments in cases brought before it by the Commission, in addition to a number of cases which remain pending before the Tribunal.

An overview of these recent developments is set out below.