KUALA LUMPUR, 12 JANUARY 2023 – The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) hosted its second Professor Richard Whish Lecture Series focusing on “Mergers and Digital Economy in Competition Law” which was officiated by the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, YB Datuk Seri Salahuddin bin Ayub, at Le Meridien Hotel, this morning.

Over 200 participants comprising of government officers, legal practitioners, economists, members of professional bodies, members of financial institutions, academicians, students and many others participated in this lecture series. 

This lecture series had gathered outstanding experts from different jurisdictions namely Professor Richard Whish, Emeritus Professor of Law from King’s College London; Mr. Will Hayter, Senior Director of the Digital Markets Unit for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), United Kingdom; Ms. Krystal Uy-Sia, Director of the Mergers and Acquisitions Office from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and Ms. Dominique Lombardi, a Senior Lawyer from Singapore.

The experts have shared, discussed and dissected among others significant new developments of the merger regulation in Europe and the ASEAN region. Additionally, the experts have shared their perspectives on the importance of the implementation of the merger control regime in Malaysia and the challenges that could be foreseen from its implementation. The experts had also expressed their views on the emergence of enforcement trends among the competition authorities in the world as a result of the rapid development on the digital economy front and why is it important for Malaysia to have its own set of regulations despite having a relatively small economy. The participants also had the opportunity to hear the latest updates on the approach taken by the digital market and the CMA’s experience in setting up the Digital Market Unit.

“The MyCC has impressive track records in its effort to eliminate cartels and abusive monopolies that resulted in around RM 175 million of financial penalties. Thus, the Ministry supports the MyCC in its effort to achieve its objective which in turn would lead to the reduction of the cost of living as envisioned by the Ministry. The Ministry is also fully committed in working closely with the MyCC in continuing its efforts to eradicate cartels and abusive monopolies as well as its ongoing efforts to amend the Competition Act 2010 and Competition Commission Act 2010 targeted to be tabled as early as middle of this year,” said YB Datuk Seri Salahuddin bin Ayub in his Keynote Address at the opening ceremony today.