Competition & Foreign Investment Review

Market-leading antitrust expertise

The ASEAN Economic Community, with a combined GDP of US$2.5 trillion, is the fourth largest exporter in the world after the regions of the European Union, North America and China/Hong Kong. Singapore, although a small open economy with a GDP of around US$320 billion, is ranked fifth in density of global headquarters, and is often at the epicentre of competition and merger control strategies for the region. Our Competition & Foreign Investment Review Practice has unparalleled experience as antitrust and merger control advisers in Singapore and the region.

Largest fully-dedicated team

Our Competition & Foreign Investment Review Practice has been consistently cited as Singapore’s leading competition practice by Global Competition Review, and is the largest and most experienced fully-dedicated competition and foreign investment review practice in the region. Uniquely, our lawyers are dedicated to antitrust and foreign investment review full-time, and our team includes economists, as well as former officers of the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS), now known as the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS), including its founding Chairman, and other government agencies.  

Range and depth of experience

We are your strategic partners in managing your antitrust and merger control exposure in Singapore and ASEAN. We frequently assist clients in cross-border antitrust and foreign investment review assessments, gun-jumping and technical filings, and have unsurpassed experience in complex cartel and monopoly investigations. We are also regularly commissioned by governments to draft competition and merger control legislation, codes and policies, including in the aviation, energy, media, postal, telecommunications sectors, and are trainers for the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition.

From the outset, our practice has handled the most complex of international cartel, dominance and merger control cases in Singapore. As a market-leader in merger control, we have also advised on approximately 75 per cent. of the merger control cases filed, and public investigation cases engaged, with the CCCS. Our landmark matters include:

• Overturning the CCCS’ first provisional decision to block a merger
• Advising on the first competition dispute to be heard before the Energy Market Authority on the essential facilities provisions of the Gas Act 2001
• Advising on the majority of Phase 2 reviews by the CCCS, and clearing and negotiating merger commitments in second requests
• Advising on the amnesty applicant in Singapore’s first international cartel decision, and the immunity applicant in its second global cartel decision
• Advising on multiple abuse of dominance decisions by the CCCS, including the first appeal to the Competition Appeal Board
• Contributing to the development of regional competition law and merger control legislation, including being advisers to the Myanmar Competition Commission in the drafting of the Myanmar Competition Act