Antitrust & Competition Law

Antitrust & Competition Law

Hylands’ antitrust and competition team comprises market-leading antitrust experts from both China and Europe. Key team members of our antitrust and competition practice have been recognized as leading antitrust practitioners by  Chambers & Partners, Legal500 and other authoritative legal directories for over a decade.

The Hylands’ antitrust and competition team is led by a group of partners who have been engaged in competition law practice since the initial stages of China’s antitrust history. The team includes over 30 senior lawyers from Hylands’ offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Xi’an, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and other cities across China. The team members all graduated from top-notch law schools in and outside China, and most of our lawyers had previously worked in leading international law firms for a number of years. Apart from the focus on legal excellence, some of our antitrust lawyers have also obtained a degree in economics and most have acquired significant sectoral know-how and expertise in specific industries. 

Hylands’ clients include well-known multinational corporations including many Fortune500 companies, as well as large state-owned enterprises and private companies including large Internet players. Our customers are active in multiple different industries such as automotive, pharmaceuticals, high-tech, energy, chemicals, electronics, consumer goods, and manufacturing, etc.

Services

  • Merger Control
    ● Conducting multiple-jurisdictional filing assessments for all types of transactions (including mergers, acquisitions of equity, asset transfers or swaps, and the establishment of joint ventures) in China and other jurisdictions around the world;
    ● Assisting clients in formulating merger filing strategies, preparing notification documents and representing clients in merger proceedings before the antitrust authorities in China;
    ● Leading and coordinating merger filings across different jurisdictions around the world (including at times representing clients before EU authorities);
    ● Assisting clients in dealing with authority investigations into alleged failure to file reportable transactions;
    ● Assisting clients in submitting complaints/objections to transactions by competitors or other third parties.
  • Conduct Investigations
    ● Assisting clients in defending against conduct-related antitrust investigations (i.e., for suspected anti-competitive agreements and/or abuse of dominance) by law enforcement agencies;
    ● Assisting clients in seeking leniency for their participation in anti-competitive agreements, as well as applying for suspension and termination of investigations through commitments;
    ● Representing clients in reporting third parties’ anti-competitive conduct (including anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance) to antitrust authorities;
    ● Assisting clients acting as third parties or interested parties in providing evidence or making statements to law enforcement agencies in antitrust investigations.
  • Antitrust Litigation
    ● Representing clients in defending against private antitrust lawsuits;
    ● Representing clients in filing antitrust lawsuits before courts;
    ● Providing legal advice and strategic analysis in antitrust litigation;
    ● Representing clients in administrative litigation against adverse decisions by antitrust authorities.
  • Antitrust Counselling and Compliance
    ● Issuing legal opinions on antitrust compliance for clients’ business arrangements – such as cooperation, joint development, supply, distribution, franchise or license agreements;
    ● Providing antitrust counseling on clients’ business models, market strategies and business conduct;
    ● Establishing comprehensive antitrust compliance systems for clients, including drafting up antitrust compliance manuals and check lists;
    ● Providing antitrust training including mock “dawn raid” drill for clients’ executives and employees.
  • Fair Competition Review
    ● Providing analysis on the compatibility of regulations and government policies with China’s fair competition review rules;
    ● Representing clients to raise fair competition review advocacy points in relation to regulations and government policies, and if appropriate, file complaints or bring lawsuits against non-compliant conduct.
  • Anti-Unfair Competition
    ● Providing legal advice and compliance analyses to clients on anti-unfair competition issues such as anti-corruption, commercial bribery, false advertising, commercial defamation, passing-off, trade secret protection, and in relation to data rights;
    ● Filing anti-unfair competition complaints with enforcement authorities throughout China, as well as bringing private lawsuits;
    ● Representing clients in defending against anti-unfair competition investigations conducted by enforcement authorities and lawsuits before court;
    ● Representing clients in filing administrative reconsideration and administrative lawsuits involving anti-unfair administrative penalty decisions.
  • National Security Review
    ● Counseling clients on the applicability and substantive analysis in relation to national security review for M&A projects;
    ● Conducting due diligence on M&A projects involving foreign investors, and conducting assessments of national security risks;
    ● Assisting clients in preparing notification documents related to national security review and representing them before the reviewing authorities;
    ● Leading the multiple-jurisdictional national security review filing assessment, as well as coordinating counsel in jurisdictions throughout the world.

Professionals

Read More

Cases