Merger control regime in Malaysia: past, present and way forward

Merger control is one of the main pillars of a competition law regime. Without a merger control provision, a competition authority is unable to prevent a problematic merger that lessens competition in the market from being consummated. Malaysia, having its national cross-sector competition law regime in place only since 2010, has, apart from sectoral regulations, no merger control regime in place. The country has adopted a sectoral approach to merger control, empowering certain regulators to oversee merger activities in a specific market or industry. Since 2020, the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has been working on the proposed amendments to the Competition Act 2010 (CA 2010), with the aim to incorporate a merger control regime as one of its main agenda. The primary objective of this paper is to explore the development of the merger control regime in Malaysia. The main contribution of this paper is the analysis of the merger control regime in the proposed amendment of the CA 2010 and an understanding of the issues and challenges involved in the enforcement of merger control provisions. The research is doctrinal, based on descriptive and analytical methods, and relies on both primary and secondary data. The research also contains a comparative element by exploring experiences from other countries. Conclusions can be drawn from debates in other jurisdictions, such as the European Union and the USA, regarding potential adjustments to the respective merger control regimes.