Region: Japan

Japan’s antitrust watchdog is reportedly gearing up to impose its highest-ever cartel fines on three electric utility companies that allegedly agreed not to compete with each other after the country’s electricity market was deregulated in 2016.

28 November 2022

Featured in Digital Markets Guide - Second Edition

In recent years, the Japanese government has been keen to scrutinise the digital markets from various perspectives to implement appropriate competition policy promptly and effectively to enhance competition and innovation in digital markets.

25 November 2022

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission is reportedly investigating several companies for rigging bids for the provision of advertising and test event planning during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

21 November 2022

A Canadian court has allowed a nationwide class of plaintiffs to bring a collective damages claim against several members of the international hard disc drive suspension cartel.

13 October 2022

Ikeda & Someya has recruited Yoshiharu Ojima following the expiration of his term as one of five commissioners at Japan’s Fair Trade Commission.

01 September 2022

Competition authorities in China and Japan are continuing to pay close attention to potential collusion through algorithms although neither agency is currently pursuing any cases in this area, officials at both enforcers have said.

26 August 2022

Shuichi Sugahisa, the former secretary general of Japan’s Fair Trade Commission, has joined Baker McKenzie’s antitrust practice almost 40 years after first starting at the agency.

17 August 2022

Expedia has agreed to stop forcing accommodation providers to keep rates on the platform equal to or lower than any other sales channel to resolve concerns raised by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission.

06 June 2022

A special digital markets unit within the Japanese government has suggested regulating Apple and Google to stimulate competition in the mobile ecosystem market after concluding that restrictions on third-party application stores and the pre-installation of apps give the companies a competitive advantage.

27 April 2022

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has fined a trio of drug wholesalers a total of €3.1 million for rigging bids for contracts to supply medicines at 57 hospitals operated by a government-affiliated body.

30 March 2022