CCS-SAL Competition Law Conference: Dealing with Disruptive Innovation and Big Data in the New Economy

Themed “New Approaches For A New Economy”, the CCS-SAL conference was held on 16 August 2017 at the Supreme Court. Over 200 practitioners, academics, business professionals, government officials, including senior officials from the competition authorities of nine ASEAN states attended the conference. In its fifth run, the conference saw in-depth discussion on competition issues in the new digital economy, including challenges to traditional business models with the advent of disrupters, regulatory sandboxes and design of competitive markets, big data and designing remedies in markets where competition concerns are identified. 

Mr. Aubeck Kam, CCS Chairman, gave the welcome address. In his welcome address, he highlighted that one big question governments and competition authorities face is whether existing regulatory frameworks and models continue to hold in the face of technological disruption. As competition authorities, in particular, rely on general competition law and policy principles rather than sector-specific policies, the competition law and policy principles must be sufficiently flexible to remain relevant amidst new challenges. Mr. Kam shared examples from CCS’s experience where the existing and well-established competition principles were applied to new situations thrown up by the digital economy.

Guest-of-honour, Mr. Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade), delivered the keynote address. In his speech, Mr Lim highlighted that the rapid advancement of technology today blurs the lines between the physical spaces and digital experiences, with unprecedented speed, scale and scope.  While this has caused disruptions to many markets, it has also brought about new opportunities to businesses and benefits to consumers.  Mr. Lim also cautioned that despite the many benefits brought about by the growth of the digital economy, it has also brought about new regulatory challenges for competition authorities and regulators.

Mr. Lim launched the Handbook on E-Commerce & Competition in ASEAN, which was completed by CCS with inputs from ASEAN Member States. The handbook highlights how E-Commerce impacts traditional competition dynamics, as well as outlines policy considerations and advocacy strategies to address the challenges of enforcing competition law with the rise of E-Commerce activities. The handbook also includes a compliance checklist to help businesses engaged in E-commerce activities identify and comply with competition laws in ASEAN.

In the opening session, Mr. Damian Kassabgi, Director of Public Policy, Asia Pacific, Uber, shared about Uber's entry into the transport industry. Speaking on the role of regulations in creating a level playing field, Mr. Kassabgi opined that regulations should ensure competition and maximise consumer welfare instead of protecting incumbents. He added that lawmakers and regulators should ensure that the new regulations they make today will not stifle the innovation of tomorrow. 

Panel 1 - Disruptor or Disrupted – The application of competition law in the new economy

Panel 1 discussed whether competition policy and law should tilt in favour of the disruptor or the incumbent and how competition authorities should find the right balance. The panel also discussed on the significance of domain-specific knowledge in arriving at the right decision that is pro-technology, pro-innovation, and pro-competition. 

Discussant: Professor Wong Poh Kam, Professor, NUS Business School and Director for NUS Entrepreneurship Centre

Moderator: Mr. Lee Cheow Han, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Enforcement), Competition Commission of Singapore

Panellists: 

1. Professor Wong Poh Kam

2. Ms. Kala Anandarajah, Partner, Rajah & Tann Asia

3. Ms. Annabella Ng, Head of Government Relations, Grab

4. Mr. Siddarth Shanker, General Manager, Deliveroo 

Panel 2 - Big Data – What’s the big deal?

The panel discussed on the use of big data as a tool to innovate, the need to factor in the impact of big data by competition authorities in enforcement, cognisance of big data and possible competition issues from perspective of private companies and regulators. In the discussion, Ms. Ng Ee Kia, Assistant Chief Executive (Policy, Business and Economics) of CCS, presented the key findings from a research paper on the data landscape in Singapore which was undertaken by CCS in collaboration with the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). The research paper concluded that while the advent of large data sets and data analytics may be fresh developments, the existing analytical frameworks are sufficiently flexible and robust to deal with the competition issues that may arise in data driven industries.

Moderator: Ms. Ng Ee Kia, Assistant Chief Executive (Policy, Business and Economics), Competition Commission of Singapore

Panellists:

1. Mr. Ken Chia, Principal, Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

2. Mr. Lam Chee Kin, MD & Head, Group Legal Compliance and Secretariat, DBS

3. Associate Professor Dr. Burton Ong, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

4. Mr. Shintaro Ueda, Deputy Director, Trade Practices Division, Japan Fair Trade Commission

5. Mr. Yeong Zee Kin, Deputy Commissioner, Personal Data Protection Commission

Panel 3 - Thinking out of the box: market studies, regulatory sandboxes and the design of competitive markets

The panel discussed on how regulators together with industry can leverage on alternative tools to better understand markets and facilitate competitive markets through policy design.  For example, CCS has undertaken market studies as a way to shed light on some negative externalities and help inform the formulation of better policies upstream. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has also pioneered regulatory sandboxes to create a conducive regulatory framework for fintech innovation.  

Moderator: Mr. Tan Hi Lin, Director (Policy and Markets), Competition Commission of Singapore

Panellists:

1. Emeritus Professor David Parker, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University UK

2. Mr. Lim Chong Kin, Director, Drew & Napier LLC

3. Ms. Anna Wu, Chairperson, Hong Kong Competition Commission

4. Mr. Eugene Toh, Director, Pro-Enterprise Division, Ministry of Trade and Industry  

Panel 4 – Fundamental Solution or Band-Aid stop gap - competition law remedies in a changing world

The panel discussed on the increasing use of commitments and remedies, including interim orders, by competition authorities around the world. The session also saw discussions on the innovative solutions proposed by companies to achieve pro-competitive outcomes and address competition concerns of competition authorities.  

Discussant: Emeritus Professor Richard Whish QC Honoris Causa, King’s College London

Moderator: Mr. Herbert Fung, Director (Business and Economics), Competition Commission of Singapore

Panellist:

1. Emeritus Professor Richard Whish QC Honoris Causa

2. Mr. Daren Shiau, Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP

3. Ms. Jeanne Pratt, Deputy Commissioner of Competition, Canadian Competition Bureau

4. Mr. Saswata Mukherjee, General Counsel, Unilever Asia Pte Ltd

Panel 5 – Compliance and enforcement within Singapore and across jurisdictional boundaries

The panel provided an inside view on how enforcers in various jurisdictions, including Singapore consider competition issues and how Singapore companies can navigate their way through different jurisdictional competition rules and design their corporate compliance. The session also discussed how Singapore companies can enjoy a competitive advantage, if cross-border cooperation by competition authorities is enhanced. Further, the latest competition law developments in Singapore that companies and practitioners should be aware of, including CCS’s revised Guidelines (December 2016), were also covered in this session. 

Moderator: Mr. Harikumar Pillay, Director (Enforcement), Competition Commission of Singapore

Panellists:

1. Mr. Deepak Acharya, Director and Associate General Counsel, Proctor & Gamble Singapore

2. Ms. Ameera Ashraf, Partner, WongPartnership LLP

3. Mr. Gerald Singham, Deputy Managing Partner, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP

4. Mr. Richard Flemming, General Manager of the Australian Capital Territory Enforcement Branch (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission) 

5. Mr Deswin Nur, Head of International Cooperation Division (Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition Indonesia)

In his closing speech, Mr. Toh Han Li, Chief Executive of CCS, highlighted the importance for regulators to keep up with the disruptive changes in today's digital economy in order to remain effective. Regulators can leverage on tools such as market studies to understand markets and facilitate competitive markets through policy design.