Changes to the Calculation of Financial Penalties

Competition Commission of Singapore

Consultation Period: 08 Jun 2016 - 08 Jul 2016

Status: Closed

Introduction

The Competition Commission of Singapore (“CCS”) conducted public consultations between 25 September 2015 and 27 November 2015 (“First Public Consultation”) on the proposed amendments to the CCS Guidelines, viz:

a. Amendments to CCS Guidelines on indicative dominance threshold by removing the reference to the need for "strong evidence of dominance" to establish dominance at a lower market share (below 60%);

b. Introduction of a new "Fast Track" Framework and update the existing Leniency Framework.

c. Provision of more detailed information on the calculation of penalties.

The details are in the consultation paper which is available on the CCS website at this link. Arising from the feedback received from the consultation, CCS is proposing further amendments to the CCS Guidelines on the Appropriate Amount of Penalty "Penalty Guidelines") and CCS Guidelines on Enforcement ("Enforcement Guidelines").

Proposed Changes to Guidelines

During the 2015 public consultations on the proposed amendments to the CCS Guidelines, CCS received feedback that CCS should consider amending the Penalty Guidelines. CCS has considered the feedback and proposes that the calculation of financial penalties be based on the financial year preceding the date when the undertaking’s participation in the infringement ended. This would bring CCS’s practices in line with those in the European Union (“EU”) and the United Kingdom (“UK”).

CCS does not propose to change the financial year used to calculate the statutory maximum penalty, which is prescribed under section 69(4) of the Competition Act Cap. 50B (“the Act”)and determined having regard to the Competition (Financial Penalties) Order 2007.

This document includes an overview of the proposed amendments and questions for interested parties to respond to. The draft guidelines containing the proposed amendments can be accessed through the links in the Annex below.

Submission of feedback

CCS welcomes responses from all sources, including law firms, the business community, government departments as well as members of the public. Where appropriate, persons responding to the consultation should give an indication of the organisation(s) or interests they represent.

The consultation period begins on 8 June 2016 and ends on 8 July 2016.

You may wish to submit your response via our Public Consultation Online Form.

Alternatively, you may also write or email your response to:

(i) Post/Courier:
Competition Commission of Singapore
45 Maxwell Road
#09-01, The URA Centre
Singapore 069118
Attention: Mr. Harikumar Pillay, Director (Enforcement)

(ii) Email:

ccs_feedback@ccs.gov.sg

It would be useful if persons that submit responses could organise their submissions as follows:

(i) Cover page
(ii) Table of contents
(iii) Statement of interest
(iv) Summary of major points
(v) Comments and responses to questions
(vi) Conclusion

Supporting material may be annexed. All submissions should be clearly and concisely written and should provide a reasoned explanation for any proposed revisions. Where feasible, respondents should identify the specific paragraph of the revised guidelines on which they are commenting.

In the interest of transparency, CCS proposes to publish a summary of the key comments to this consultation. Respondents may request that any part of the submission that they believe to be proprietary, confidential or commercially sensitive be kept confidential. Any such information should be clearly marked. Where CCS agrees with the request, it will consider the information but will not publicly disclose it. If CCS rejects the request, it will not consider the information and will return the information to the submitting party.

Next steps

Following this consultation, CCS will review the responses provided and take them into account in considering the amendments to be made to the CCS Guidelines.

Review of the CCS Guidelines on the Approriate Amount of Penalty and CCS Guidelines on Enforcement [PDF, 164 KB]

Annex A: CCS Guidelines on Penalty and Enforcement [PDF, 679 KB]