SYNOPSIS

The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) is an independent body established under the Competition Commission Act 2010 to enforce the Competition Act 2010. Its main role is to protect the competitive process for the benefit of businesses, consumers and the economy.

The Competition Act 2010, which came into effect on 1 January 2012, applies to all business activities within and outside of Malaysia as long as these activities have an impact on competition in the domestic market. Companies must ensure their business practices, contracts and dealings comply with the Act. Professional services have an important role to play in improving the competitiveness of the Malaysian economy with the result that their quality and competitiveness have important spill-over effects.

The objective of this talk is to, therefore, provide an overview of the Competition Act 2010 and discuss the findings of the “Market Review on Fixing of Prices and Fees by Professional Bodies” conducted by MyCC, with the aim of encouraging more pro-competitive mechanisms related to scale of fees.

BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Shila Dorai Raj is currently the CEO of the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) having been appointed in June 2011. Before her current appointment she was the Head of the Interim Competition Unit in the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (MDTCC) and tasked with setting up the Competition Commission as well as laying the foundation for the implementation of the Competition Law 2010 which have come into effect on 1st January 2012. She was formerly the Under Secretary of the Policy and Planning Division of MDTCC where she was a key team member who formulated the Competition Policy and then the drafting of the Competition Law 2010. She has been involved with the subject matter of competition policy and law for the last 11 years. Before her involvement in this area she was an officer at the Ministry of Finance, having worked extensively in international economics and government finance.

She held the position of the Chair of the Asean Experts Group on Competition from March 2009 to March 2010. During her tenure, she chaired various capacity building programmes and policy dialogues related to competition issues which were held around the region as well as in Malaysia. She has also presented several papers at various international and national seminars as well as contributed to several articles in magazines and books including an UNCTAD publication on Competition – 30th Anniversary UN Set.

Recently she was named as the top 100 women who have excelled in the field of anti-trust in the world – a recognition given by the Global Competition Review, an international agency which reviews competition agencies around the world.  She holds a Bachelor of Economics (UKM) (1980) and LL.B (Hons) (University of London) and a Certificate in Legal Practice (UM).  She is also a Fellow of the International Monetary Fund (Washington).