'Dirty dozen' fined in anti-monopoly crackdown

(ATF) China’s General Administration of Market Supervision has issued 10 complaints against internet firms in accordance with the anti-monopoly law and some big names were among them – such as Baidu, Tencent and Suning.

After investigation, the firms (listed below) were all found to have violated Article 21 of the Anti-Monopoly Law and conducted business in an illegal manner. But an assessment has not been made yet on whether they eliminated or restricted competition.

Under Article 21, if a firm’s undertaking meets reporting standards set by the State Council, it should report to the Anti-monopoly Law Enforcement Agency in advance, and they shall not implement a finding that they failed to make a declaration.

Following the ruling, the State Administration of Market Supervision made an administrative penalty decision in accordance with Articles 48 and 49 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, and imposed a fine of 500,000 yuan on each of the 12 companies, including Yintai Commercial (Group) Co Ltd.

The Global Fintech Leaders Index created by Asia Times Financial in collaboration with ALLINDEX, is a benchmark that includes shares of digital asset exchanges, investment managers using robo advisories, social media companies and other fintech driven businesses.

The ‘dirty dozen’

A brief note published by samr.gov.cn said that in accordance with the provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, the SAMS investigated the following cases:

# Yintai Commercial (Group)’s acquisition of Kaiyuan Commercial Co Ltd’s equity;

# Tencent Holdings’ acquisition of Yuanjiao’s equity;

# Chengdu Meigenmei Information Technology Co Ltd’s equity case involving Jiahuan Agricultural Products Group Co Ltd;

# Suqian Hanbang Investment Management Co Ltd’s acquisition of equity in Jiangsu Wuxing Electric Co Ltd;

# Baidu Holdings Co Ltd’s acquisition of Xiaoyu Group’s equity;

# Suning Rundong Equity Investment Management Co Ltd’s acquisition of Shanghai Botai Yuezhen;

# The equity case of Electronic Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd;

# The establishment of a joint venture between Didi Mobile Pte Ltd and Softbank Co Ltd;

# The acquisition of equity of DaDa Education Group by Good Future Education Group;

# Shanghai Oriental Press Co Ltd and Beijing Quantum Yuedong Technology Co., Ltd;

# Ten cases involving the establishment of a joint venture;

# And Beijing Niukafu Network Technology Co Ltd’s acquisition of shares in Hebei Baoduitong Electronic Commerce Co Ltd were filed for investigation.