CCS Annual Report 2015-2016

CCS ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016

OVERVIEW

MR AUBECK KAM TSE TSUEN

Chairman

to admit liability early and, in return, receive a reduced

financial penalty, resulting in a shorter and faster

investigation process.

Our voluntarymerger regime strikes a balance between

compliancecostsandself-reporting, so that onlypotentially

problematic mergers are notified to the CCS. We are

encouraged to see thatmergerswhich have been notified

and cleared have had the desired pro-competition effect.

A post-merger study of the kidney dialysis market was

completed in April 2016. The empirical evidence showed

that CCS’s decision to clear the merger of two dialysis

service providers with a high combined market share

in December 2012 was sound, as it did not lead to any

adverseeffect oncompetition in thekidneydialysismarket.

CCSwillcontinuetofocusonmarketswhichhavesignificant

impact on our economy. To this end, it recognises that

digitisation of the global economy has led to rapid growth

of e-commerce activitieswhich have changed the nature

of competition and created new market opportunities.

The size of Singapore’s online retail market was expected

to reach S$4.4 billion in 2015, four times the size of the

market in 2010. Regionally, digital markets are taking on

a new significance as online retail spending in ASEAN

is expected to grow by 25% annually between 2013 and

2017due to increasingpurchasingpower, growing internet

penetration and improved online offerings.

In December 2015, CCS, supported by IE Singapore and

SPRING Singapore, organised a seminar to share the

findings of a CCS-commissioned report on e-commerce

withmore than 150 participants fromdifferent business

sectors. The report concluded thatSingapore’scompetition

law is generallywell equipped to deal with the issues that

may arise in the context of digital markets, in particular in

relation to the network effects andmulti-sided platforms

that are characteristic of e-commerceplatforms. Network

TOTAL

NO. OF

COMPLETED

CASES

Anti-Competitive

Agreements

Competition

Advisories

Merger

Applications

Abuse of

Dominance Cases

FY2015 IN SUMMARY

effects can easily lead to dominance and if the dominant

entity adoptsmeasures to exclude rivals, this can lead to

anundesirablemonopoly. It is therefore important for CCS

to maintain a competitive ecosystem that allows digital

markets to be vibrant and innovative with entry and exit

of market players.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow

Commission members for their time and commitment.

CCS’s achievements over the year would not have been

possible without their guidance, which has ensured

CCS’s decisions have been carefully thought through

and reasoned. I also applaud the efforts of our committed

CCSmanagement teamand staff for their teamwork and

passion in advancing CCS’s mission.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank our partners

andstakeholders for their strongsupport of CCS’smission.

As CCS tackles more complex and

cross-border cases, we strive

to deliver effective and efficient

investigation and enforcement,

despite limited resources.

ICN ANNUAL CONFERENCE

>500

Delegates

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