alerts & publications

The Competition Law Defence in Civil Proceedings in Hong Kong

O’Melveny partner Philip Monaghan co-authored the article “The Competition Law Defence in Civil Proceedings in Hong Kong” for Hong Kong Lawyer. The piece looks at Taching Petroleum Company, Limited v Meyer Aluminium Limited [2018] HKCFI 1074 (Taching Petroleum), a landmark case for competition law in Hong Kong.

“The judgment in Taching Petroleum is an important step forward for the availability of the remedies provided under the CO [Competition Order],” Monaghan writes. “The use of a competition defence in private litigation and arbitration is likely to prove of great practical value. There remains, however, an important lacuna in the system of remedies under the CO in so far as there is no ability for a plaintiff to bring a private action for breach of the conduct rules. The likely result will be that serious harm caused by infringements of the conduct rules will go uncompensated and unaddressed. That in turn has a detrimental impact upon the incentives provided by the competition regime. It remains to be seen whether legislative or judicial action will serve to address this shortfall.”

To read the full article, click here. 

A former senior competition regulator, Monaghan advises Hong Kong and multinational clients on competition issues arising under antitrust laws globally.