Japan’s Consolidated Anti-Monopoly Act: Recent Developments and Non-Developments

Oct 21, 2015

CPI Asia Column edited by Vanessa Yanhua Zhang (Global Economics Group) present:

Japan’s Consolidated Anti-Monopoly Act: Recent Developments and Non-Developments – Mel Marquis (European University Institute, Florence & Doshisha University, Kyoto) & Shingo Seryo (Doshisha University, Kyoto)¹

Abstract

In this article we discuss developments, or in some cases the lack thereof, in connection with the 2013 amendments to Japan’s Anti-Monopoly Act (AMA).² The legislative process is now complete, following the rather profound restructuring of the enforcement process on which we reported in an earlier article.³ Here we discuss newer provisions, including regulations and soft law, which supplement and flesh out some of the AMA’s amendments. We will not repeat here the basic provisions that drove the reform in 2013.

The following text is divided into four parts. Part I contains a brief introduction. Part II presents new (mainly but not only procedural) aspects of the Japanese enforcement system since April 2015. Part III (‘Residual roncerns’) discusses the recent draft Guidelines of the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) on its Administrative Investigation Procedures. It also discusses issues that have not been resolved by either the draft Guidelines or the reformed Act, including the attorney-client privilege and the presence of counsel during depositions and interrogations. Part IV concludes with some final remarks.

Introduction

The Japanese ‘Di