The Philippine Competition Commission said it is mulling over proposals to increase the mandatory notification threshold for mergers and acquisitions to more than P1 billion amid numerous requests from private companies and legislators.
PCC chairman Arsenio Balisacan said the possible hike in notification on threshold was a part of a series of policy enhancements the agency was undertaking for the year.
“The draft for the adjustment of the P1-billion notification threshold is expected to be proposed to the commission by the first half of the year,” Balisacan said during a forum on competition policy organized by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Wednesday.
PCC head of legal team Gian Camacho said the threshold hike was not yet final, but the commission was willing to entertain suggestions of any kind to help the agency’s mandate prosper.
“P1 billion is too low for other jurisdictions like cross-border mergers that involve many companies,” Camacho said.
The PCC said among the other policy updates would be the enforcement of the leniency program in April 2018, the forbearance program in July and the inspection order in May.
The leniency program grants to an entity immunity from suit or reduction of fine in exchange for the voluntary disclosure of information for a competition case while the commission may also exercise forbearance or preferential treatment on entities that may assist the body in attaining its objectives.
The PCC said it would also undertake inspections of business premises and other offices under suspicion for holding or keeping documents and evidences pertinent to an ongoing case.
The PCC said it had received 91 queries and informal complaints on possible anti-competitive conducts with seven preliminary inquiries, including an on-going preliminary inquiry and six having advanced to full administrative investigation.
It said four full administrative investigations were currently ongoing, while two were closed by the commission.
The PCC said since it was established, it had received 135 transactions, 41 of which were global mergers.
“By March 2018, we hope to adopt internal guidelines for the early termination of non-problematic mergers and acquisitions. By the end of the second quarter, we hope to publish guidelines both for the review of joint ventures and for the exemption from compulsory notification,” Baliscan said.
He said the forthcoming framework from the Mergers and Acquisitions Office were not meant to be regulatory burdens on businesses.
“The commission is all too aware that onerous rules can stifle business activity and impede the entry of competition,” he said.