Competition law in Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines: an overview

This chapter presents an overview of three competition law systems, those of Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. While the Japanese competition law is one of the oldest statutory competition regimes in the world, the laws of Malaysia and the Philippines are of much more recent date. In analysing several substantive, procedural and institutional dimensions, each jurisdiction is discussed and assessed with reference to the others. The main antitrust prohibitions in each country are discussed; selected cases and trends are highlighted; and the contours of the merger regimes in Japan and the Philippines are described. The chapter takes account of competition law reforms that were either pending or being to some extent contemplated at the time of writing in Japan and Malaysia, including the adoption of a commitments procedure in the former and the hoped-for introduction of ex ante merger control in the latter country. In a concluding section the chapter pleads for still more fundamental legal and institutional reform in Malaysia, and questions the adequacy of the provisions regulating pecuniary penalties for competition law contraventions in the Philippines.