COMPETITION COMMISSION v. GRAY LINE TOURS OF HONG KONG LTD AND OTHERS

COMPETITION COMMISSION v. GRAY LINE TOURS OF HONG KONG LTD AND OTHERS

The Tribunal accepted the parties' admissions and granted declarations that the 1st and 5th Respondents breached s6 and that the 6th Respondent was involved; it imposed the agreed pecuniary penalties, investigation costs and a three-year disqualification, and ruled that redaction of financial figures and non-party individual names in appended Statements of Agreed Facts is permissible only for information dated from 1 June 2021 onwards, finding Rule 37 inapplicable to judgment appendices and requiring redacted Statements to be appended to a separate short decision.

Citation
[2023] HKCT 2
Parties
Applicant: Competition Commission; 1st Respondent: Gray Line Tours of Hong Kong Limited; 2nd Respondent: Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees Limited; 3rd Respondent: Harbour Plaza Hotel Management Limited; 4th Respondent: Prudential Hotel (BVI) Limited; 5th Respondent: Tak How Investment Limited (trading as Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong); 6th Respondent: Wu Siu Ieng Michael
Court
Competition Tribunal
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
14 June 2023
Case Number
CTEA1/2022
Procedural Posture
Competition Tribunal Enforcement Action / Kam Kwong Procedure Judgment and Confidentiality Redaction Decision
Outcome
Judgment entered by consent under the Kam Kwong procedure: declarations of contravention and involvement granted; pecuniary penalties, investigation costs, costs orders, and a three-year disqualification ordered; limited redaction of Statements of Agreed Facts permitted for specified recent financial data and...
Legal Topics
First Conduct Rule (price Fixing), Company Officer Involvement, Penalties and Disqualification, Confidentiality Orders (rule 37), Kam Kwong Procedure
Source Language
EN
Competition Law Administrative Law Civil Procedure First Conduct Rule (price Fixing) Company Officer Involvement Penalties and Disqualification Confidentiality Orders (rule 37) Kam Kwong Procedure

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Parties

Competition Commission

Applicant

Gray Line Tours of Hong Kong Limited

1st Respondent

Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees Limited

2nd Respondent

Harbour Plaza Hotel Management Limited

3rd Respondent

Prudential Hotel (BVI) Limited

4th Respondent

Tak How Investment Limited (trading as Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong)

5th Respondent

Wu Siu Ieng Michael

6th Respondent

Procedural Posture

Competition Tribunal Enforcement Action / Kam Kwong Procedure Judgment and Confidentiality Redaction Decision

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the 1st and 5th Respondents breached the First Conduct Rule (s6) by agreeing to fix prices
  2. 2 Whether the 6th Respondent was involved in the contravention (s94(1); s91(b),(d))
  3. 3 Appropriate pecuniary penalties, investigation costs, and disqualification order

Ratio Decidendi

The Tribunal accepted the parties' admissions and granted declarations that the 1st and 5th Respondents breached s6 and that the 6th Respondent was involved; it imposed the agreed pecuniary penalties, investigation costs and a three-year disqualification, and ruled that redaction of financial figures and non-party individual names in appended Statements of Agreed Facts is permissible only for information dated from 1 June 2021 onwards, finding Rule 37 inapplicable to judgment appendices and requiring redacted Statements to be appended to a separate short decision.

Court Disposition

Judgment entered by consent under the Kam Kwong procedure: declarations of contravention and involvement granted; pecuniary penalties, investigation costs, costs orders, and a three-year disqualification ordered; limited redaction of Statements of Agreed Facts permitted for specified recent financial data and...

Orders

  • Declare that the 1st Respondent contravened the First Conduct Rule under s6 of the Competition Ordinance pursuant to s94(1)
  • 1st Respondent to pay a pecuniary penalty of HK$4,177,000 to the Government pursuant to s93, payable in four equal instalments of HK$1,044,250 at 6-month intervals, first instalment within 14 days and documentary evidence of each payment to be provided to the Applicant within 7 days of payment