The Hong Kong Competition Commission (the "Commission") may exercise its discretion to settle alleged breaches of the Competition Ordinance (the "Ordinance") by accepting a 'Commitment' from the parties under investigation.
A Commitment requires that the parties concerned take, or refrain from taking, any action that the Commission considers appropriate to address its concerns about a possible contravention of the Ordinance and/or offer appropriate redress to third parties affected by the conduct.
A Commitment can be offered to and accepted by the Commission at any stage of the investigative process, even if proceedings have already commenced. If the Commission accepts a Commitment, it may agree to terminate its investigation or to withdraw proceedings in the Competition Tribunal (the "Tribunal").
In Part 10 of this series, we will look at:
- Acceptance of a Commitment
- Withdrawal of a Commitment
- What to consider when offering a Commitment?
- Commitments in the context of an Infringement Notice
