New merger control regime for HK telcoms sector

On 9 July 2003, the Legislative Council (Legco) in Hong Kong passed legislation to grant the TA the power to regulate merger and acquisition activity in the telecoms sector. This was the culmination of a long process which began with the TA releasing a consultation paper on this topic on 17 April 2001. Since then, there has been considerable public debate about its merits, and the Bills Committee closely examined the bill for over a year after the government presented it to Legco on 15 May 2002. As a result, the government substantially revised the bill before Legco passed it. The government aims to have the merger control regime in operation by the end of 2003, after the TA has issued M&A guidelines, which will provide practical guidance on the implementation of the law.