Japan: Opened consultation on draft Guidelines to Application of the Antimonopoly Act Concerning Review of Business Combination

On 4 October 2019, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) released the draft revision of the "Guidelines to Application of the Antimonopoly Act Concerning Review of Business Combination" (Business Combination Guidelines) and opened a consultation until 5 November 2019. The JFTC cited the lack of guidance when it comes to business combinations in the digital market as the reason for the revision. The two main revisions are the definition of a particular field of trade as well as the consideration of substantial restraint of competition when it comes to the competition analysis as part of the merger review.