The Hong Kong Competition Commission today (13 November) conducted searches at six locations, including an IT service provider’s registered office and five individuals’ residences, as part of an investigation into alleged anticompetitive behavior related to a government subsidy program.
The investigation focuses on the “Pilot Subsidy Scheme for Third-party Logistics Service Providers” (Pilot Scheme), in which the parties are suspected of bid-rigging, price fixing, customer allocation, and sharing competitively sensitive information—a potential breach of the First Conduct Rule under the Competition Ordinance.
This probe was triggered by a referral from the Hong Kong Productivity Council, which identified unusual patterns in several applications associated with the Pilot Scheme. Following a preliminary assessment, the Commission determined there was reasonable suspicion of misconduct and escalated the case to a formal investigation.
In addition to executing search warrants, the Commission exercised its authority to compel relevant parties to submit documents, provide information, and attend interviews.
The Commission emphasized that fighting anti-competitive conduct exploiting public funds is a high enforcement priority. This case follows a previous investigation in March 2023, in which the Competition Tribunal ruled in favor of the Commission, resulting in HK$1.7 million in penalties and a two-year director disqualification for an individual involved.
No further details are available as the investigation is ongoing.
Source: https://www.compcomm.hk/en/media/press/files/subsidy_search_PR_EN.pdf
