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[]
[]
[null,"Prepared By:","Contributors:"]
[null,"Deacons","Machiuanna Chu"]
[]
[]
[]
["Sustainability and Competition Global Practice Guide"]
[]
["Report Generated: 5/1/2025"]
[]
["View your report results on next tab"]

{"sheet":"Sustainability and Competition ","index":1,"n_rows":11,"n_cols":2,"rows_kept":11,"cut":false,"hidden":false,"merged":[]}
["Question","Hong Kong"]
["Lex Mundi Sustainability and Competition Global Practice Guide"]
["Are ESG measures/sustainability agreements included in your jurisdictional competition regime?","ESG measures/sustainability agreements are not explicitly included in Hong Kong’s competition regime at present.\n"]
["If ESG measures/sustainability agreements are not included in your jurisdictional competition regime, do you foresee any new regulations coming into place in 2022?","We do not foresee any new regulations specifically addressing antitrust issues related to ESG measures/sustainability agreements coming into place in 2022. \n"]
["Has your Authority issued any guidance on the role, if any, of ESG in the competition law analysis applied to mergers or other conduct?","The Hong Kong Competition Commission (“\nHKCC”), the competition law enforcement agency in Hong Kong, has not issued any guidance on the role of ESG in relation to merger analysis to date.  In fact, the \nMerger Rule under the \nHong Kong Competition Ordinance (“\nCompetition Ordinance”) is applicable to undertakings in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors only. \n"]
["Has your jurisdiction issued guidance regarding competitor collaborations or participating in industry working groups, and if so, do they specifically address ESG?","The \nHKCC has not issued any guidance specifically related to competitor collaborations or participation in industry working groups. \nHowever, under the \nCompetition Ordinance, agreements or arrangements among competitors may be excluded in respect of the First Conduct Rule (which prohibits anti-competitive agreements or arrangements), if the agreement or arrangement “contributes to improving production or distribution”, or “promoting technical or economic progress, while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefit” (\nCompetition Ordinance, \nSection 1 of Schedule 1, “Agreements enhancing over economic efficiency” (“efficiency exclusion”). In particular, the following consideration regarding efficiency exclusion, noted in the \nFirst Conduct Rule Guideline published by the \nHKCC, is pertinent to agreements among competitors in connection with ESG or sustainability initiatives (including competitor collaborations or industry working group participation): \nSection 2.10 of the \nAnnex to the First Conduct Rule Guideline recognizes that efficiencies in the form of quality improvements or innovation, including “technical and technological advances brought about when firms cooperate on research and development leading to improved or new products” that benefit consumers may be excluded from the prohibitions under the \nFirst Conduct Rule. \n"]
["Can parties seek specific guidance from authorities on proposed ESG initiatives?","Parties may seek guidance from the \nHKCC on proposed ESG initiatives. In general, when an undertaking seeks guidance from the \nHKCC regarding a specific arrangement or initiative, the \nHKCC typically will provide only general, broad and non-committal guidance to the undertaking. \nIf the firm would like to seek clear and/or conclusive guidance from the \nHKCC respective to a specific proposed ESG initiative, the \nHKCC will most likely advise the undertaking to formally apply for a decision from the \nHKCC(under\n sections 9 and/or section 24 of the Competition Ordinance) for an exclusion (under \nsection 11) or exemption (under \n26) regarding whether or not the proposed ESG initiative would be excluded or exempted from the prohibitions under the \nFirst Conduct Rule or \nSecond Conduct Rule (which prohibits abuse of substantial market power by an undertaking).\n"]
["How, if at all, does your jurisdiction quantify or calculate the ESG effects?","To date, there have not been any cases that involve the quantification or calculation of the ESG/sustainability effects.  Neither has the \nHKCC provided any guideline on how such effects would be measured. \n"]
["What does your legal authority currently permit even if your agency is not yet active on this topic?","Currently, the \nHKCC has not explicitly permitted any specific arrangement or conduct involving or related to ESG or sustainability matters.  However, as explained in our response to Question 4 above, an arrangement involving ESG or sustainability matters may be excluded from the prohibitions under the \nFirst Conduct Rule if the parties can successfully demonstrate that the arrangement enhances overall economic efficiencies (under section 1 of \nSchedule 1 of the \nCompetition Ordinance).   \nFurther, \nsection 2 of \nSchedule 1 of the \nCompetition Ordinance provides that an agreement (or conduct) is excluded from the \nFirst Conduct Rule and \nSecond Conduct Rule if it is entered into (or engaged in) for the purpose of complying with a legal requirement under Hong Kong law (e.g., an environmental protection regulation in the case of matters involving ESG or sustainability issues).  \n"]
["Are there precedents that involved ESG/sustainability matters in your country? If so please provide a short description.","There are no precedents that involve ESG/sustainability matters in Hong Kong to date. \n"]
["Is there specific antitrust regulation in your jurisdiction to be aware of which might give rise to private or class action ESG litigation?","The \nCompetition Ordinance does not provide for standalone private or class actions. \n"]