that Hong Kong is set to introduce cross-border competition laws, with the HK government starting a three-month consultation process on May 6.
The consultation, the second on the subject, is set to end on Aug. 5, with the government then planning to introduce a competition bill during the 2008-09 legislative session.
Legal Week report
The legislation is only likely to regulate anti-competitive agreements and abuse of market position and may not include merger control, but it will still make a big difference to the jurisdiction -- as current rules only cover telecoms and broadcasting.
Clifford Chance Hong Kong-based competition partner Alison Lindsay told Legal Week: "For clients, it will be an interesting time [when the laws come into practice]. A number of larger companies are quite reluctant. It will be educational and surprising to some, as they understand that some of the practices that are [currently] common will fall foul.
