Cross-Border Merger Control – Challenges for Developing and Emerging Economies – fusion

Effective merger control of cross-border mergers requires that the countries involved have effective merger control regimes. However, this may be a challenging task in many developing and emerging economies (DEEs) given the complexities of enforcing competition law in these economies. In particular, DEEs face many challenges in their efforts to build effective merger control regimes, including lack of resources, an inadequate legal framework, the absence of a proper competition culture, the difficult transition towards a market-based economy, the dominance of industrial policy, problems with implementation, and the role of foreign direct investment (FDI). For an effective review of cross-border transactions, and to ensure consistent decisions, international cooperation between the competition authorities involved is essential. Increased co-operation should be encouraged between competition authorities particularly in the design of remedies in cross-border merger cases. There are three main types of co-operation: multilateral, regional and bilateral. While all three are relevant to DEEs, bilateral contacts are a key element for effective review of cross-border mergers.