The Hong Kong Court of Appeal issues a judgement which finds housing contractors fully liable for price fixing and market sharing

On 2 June 2022, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (“Court”) handed down a judgment almost doubling the financial penalties imposed by the Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) on five respondents in two decisions. The Tribunal had earlier found the respondents to have contravened the Competition Ordinance (“Ordinance”) by engaging in market sharing and price-fixing in providing renovation services to tenants in two new public housing estates. In determining the financial penalties, the Tribunal had given the respondents a reduction on the basis that it was the respondents’ subcontractors that had entered into the anti-competitive agreements and the respondents did not participate directly in such conduct. The Hong Kong Competition Commission (“HKCC”) appealed, and the Court ruled that the subcontracting arrangements could not be considered as a mitigating factor.