Competition Law Quarterly

APAC and Middle East 2nd Quarter 2026 Update

The second quarter of 2026 has seen significant competition law developments across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, with the continued expansion of digital platform enforcement, active merger control by regional authorities, escalating cartel sanctions, important consumer protection cases and legislative reforms designed to strengthen regulatory tools.

Key developments covered in this edition include:

Digital platform regulation and enforcement

• Regulators across the region are moving from policy development to active enforcement against digital platforms. In Australia the Government has released draft legislation for the proposed News Bargaining Incentive that will require significant digital platforms to enter commercial deals with news publishers or face a levy of 2.25% of their gross Australian revenue. In Hong Kong, the HKCC has accepted binding commitments from Keeta, Hong Kong's largest delivery platform, addressing exclusivity incentives, switching restrictions and price parity clauses. In Indonesia, the KPPU has escalated its probe into TikTok and Tokopedia over alleged dominance across the e-commerce value chain. In China, a private antitrust claim against Apple concerning sideloading restrictions and commission fees has proceeded to hearing in the Shanghai IP Court. SAMR is also nearing conclusion of its abuse of dominance investigation into Trip.com, with a potential fine in the range of CNY 3 – 4 billion. Thailand's new enforceable guidelines on anti-competitive conduct by e-commerce platforms have come into force. Vietnam is consulting on draft legislation modelled on the EU's Digital Markets Act that would impose ex-ante obligations on digital platform operators.

Merger control developments

• Merger control activity has been significant. In Australia, with the ACCC conditionally approving the Ampol/EG acquisition — the first transaction cleared following a Phase 2 review under the new mandatory notification regime. In China, the SAMR conditionally approved Tencent's acquisition of online audio platform Ximalaya, subject to strict behavioural remedies. Singapore's CCS conditionally approved the SP Mobility/ChargEco deal in the growing EV charging market. Taiwan's TFTC approved the USD 22 billion Skyworks/Qorvo semiconductor merger. In the UAE, the long-awaited Executive Regulations to the Competition Law have been adopted, delivering detailed procedural frameworks for merger control, investigations and exemptions. Vietnam has overhauled its merger control regime with new notification thresholds, enhanced sanctions for gun-jumping and expanded enforcement powers for the VCC. In the Philippines, the PCC has published a draft circular proposing exemptions from compulsory merger notification for certain public-private partnership projects.

Cartel enforcement

• Enforcement agencies across the region continue to prioritise cartel conduct as legislative reforms are also providing regulators with new and impactful powers. In Hong Kong, the HKCC is preparing proposals to criminalise bid-rigging, with a proposed maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment, following alleged tender malpractice linked to a fatal building fire. In the UAE, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism has referred a cartel case involving price-fixing conduct in the poultry market to public prosecution for the first time. In Malaysia, the MyCC has issued a proposed decision against six companies for alleged bid-rigging of a food supply tender.

Consumer protection and market conduct

• Authorities are increasingly achieving enforcement outcomes in relation to consumer-facing market conduct. In Australia, the Federal Court found that Coles, one of the largest supermarkets, engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct through its "was/now" pricing programme, reinforcing that promotional pricing practices remain a priority enforcement area. The Australian Parliament also passed legislation which introduces a general prohibition on unfair trading practices and creates restrictions on subscription contracts and drip pricing. In Singapore, the CCS has taken enforcement action against online retailers for "dark patterns" including false urgency, misleading sales representations and false scarcity, securing formal undertakings from three companies. In the UAE, enhanced monitoring of essential goods pricing has resulted in approximately 15,480 inspections and the detection of 312 violations in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

Competition Law Quarterly Editorial team: Alyssa Phillips, Kailun Ji, Lauren Zambotti, Adelle Elhosni, Dee Dee O'Shannassy, Chelsea Toner, Aroon Parthasarathy, Yiyun Feng and Kevin Adidharma