Competition Law and Antitrust

We support clients that are facing investigations by competition and antitrust authorities and other regulatory agencies (for example, on topics such as consumer protection, cartel behaviour etc). We’re by your side, providing practical competition analysis, strategic advice and expert guidance throughout the investigation process. Our legal specialists include former members of competition authorities who are experienced in investigation procedures and negotiations. Together, we can achieve effective outcomes for your business.

Our Investigation support in practice:

We recently advised a global online travel agent platform (OTA) in relation to an investigation by the Hong Kong Competition Commission into certain contractual terms in agreements between OTAs and accommodations (e.g. hotels) in Hong Kong SAR. We provided strategic advice on all stages of the investigation process, from initial approach, to handling information requests, assessing competition risks, negotiating with Commission case handlers, settling commitments with the Commission and advising on implementation. Details regarding the commitments can be found here.

We help clients protect their business with effective competition compliance policies, manuals and guidelines.

Our team can audit your commercial agreements, pricing policies, non-compete arrangements and business models to assess your overall compliance risk – and see challenges before they arise. We train clients and senior management teams on competition compliance and prepare them for investigations through coaching and dawn raid trainings.

In recent years, State aid law has become an increasingly important aspect of legal orders worldwide. Under certain circumstances, State aid may distort fair competition and is prohibited in some jurisdictions.  As an illustration, prohibitions have now been incorporated within the EU, US and WTO jurisdictions.  State aid laws can have far-reaching consequences on governments and companies that operate in the interspace between the public and private domain. This impact has become even more apparent in the context of COVID-19, as State aid programs have been expanded to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic. 

PwC's globally connected State aid teams help our clients navigate this complexity on a daily basis.  With in-depth knowledge and experience across a wide spectrum of State aid law issues, we assist both public and private organizations with State Aid law compliance, including in the context of public-private collaboration, application of grants, designing State aid related (public) policies and maintaining contacts with competent public authorities.

Competition laws are increasingly complex and rapidly changing. Our global network is ready to support you on emerging issues such as:

• consumer protection;
• access disputes / access regime analysis;
• competition law issues arising from blockchain, algorithms and technology;
• complex joint venture arrangements;
• issues relating to intellectual property, including standard-essential patents and patent pools;
• technology licensing and distribution arrangements; and
• competition neutrality assessments.