Our Competition & Antitrust Partner, Siow Ying Yi, recently contributed to Lianhe Zaobao’s “Speaking the Law and Understanding the Law” column, titled “Exchanging pricing information may seem routine for industry players, but it could set off competition law alarm bells.”
Ying Yi explains what businesses should keep in mind under Section 34 of the Competition Act 2004, which prohibits anti-competitive agreements and practices. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) may direct infringing companies to amend or terminate the agreement. Where the infringement is intentional or negligent, it may impose penalties of up to 10% of Singapore turnover for each year of infringement, for a maximum of three years. She also cited a June 2026 appeal decision, where the respondents’ relatively small market share did not shield them from liability for exchanging information on pricing strategies.
Ying Yi also highlighted that liability may arise without senior management’s knowledge. A company may be held liable for an employee’s exchange of commercially sensitive information, where that employee had authority to act on its behalf.
If an employee has inadvertently shared sensitive information with a competitor, the company should act quickly, including by taking the following remedial steps:
- Stop the communications: Instruct employees to cease the communications immediately.
- Preserve evidence: Securely retain all relevant records and documents.
- Conduct an internal investigation: Engage legal advisers to assess the situation.
- Report early: If an infringement is confirmed, consider applying under CCS’ “Leniency Programme”; and
- Take corrective action: Take appropriate disciplinary action against the employees involved, and strengthen compliance framework and training programmes.
She emphasised that timing matters under CCS’ Leniency Programme. The first infringing party to come forward voluntarily with material evidence may qualify for total immunity from financial penalties, subject to certain conditions.
To discuss competition law compliance or how to respond to a suspected incident, please reach out to our Competition & Antitrust team. Learn more about our Competition & Antitrust practice.
Read the full Chinese article here.
