Asian Legal Review

The House of Lords’ EU Internal Market Sub-Committee has launched an inquiry into the implications of Brexit on UK competition policy.

At least 10 people including a toddler died and two German tourists were among those rescued after a speedboat capsized off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday.
Witnesses said passengers jumped into the water without life jackets as the boat – carrying 51 people – capsized outside a busy Indonesian port and they feared others on board may have been trapped inside the boat, rescue officials said. “The boat had only been sailing for about 10 minutes when it was hit by a wave. It…

Thai authorities have frozen seven bank accounts belonging to ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra over a US$1 billion fine she faces for her administration’s controversial rice subsidy scheme, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
The move is seen as unprecedented because it financially sanctions an elected leader for a government policy and it is the latest in a barrage of legal battles she has had to fight since she was booted from office.
Thailand’s first female prime minister, whose government…

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled that a £14 billion collective action claim against MasterCard over credit card interchange fees cannot proceed.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte vowed on Monday to press on with his controversial drug war that has claimed thousands of lives, as he outlined his vision of an “eye-for-an-eye” justice system.
Duterte devoted large chunks of his annual State of the Nation Address to pushing his law-and-order policies that have made him hugely popular with many Filipinos, but been condemned by human rights groups and other critics.
“No matter how long it takes, the fight against illegal…

Southeast Asian ride-hailing service Grab expects to raise US$2.5 billion in a record round of fundraising to cement its lead over Uber Technolgies in the region and grow its payments platform.
Southeast Asia has become a key battleground for technology startups vying for a market of more than 600 million people, with a burgeoning middle class as well as a youthful, internet-savvy demographic.
Grab’s Chinese peer Didi Chuxing and Japan’s SoftBank Group, both of which are existing…

It is a weekday night in the Singaporean border town of Marsiling, and 42-year-old security guard Taufiq Mohamad is in a hurry to get home after completing a 12-hour shift. Home – located on the island’s western district of Jurong – is a 40-minute metro commute away, but the trip is less grinding for Taufiq these days as he zips to the nearest station on one of the city’s newly launched shared bicycles. This allows him to save precious minutes spent on a winding…

The left-wing party championed by former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has taken the lead in East Timor’s parliamentary elections, winning about a third of votes counted by early on Sunday.
The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, better known as Fretilin, is in a close contest, however, with the centre-left National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction, or CNRT, led by former independence fighter Xanana Gusmao, who became the tiny country’s first president after…

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has instructed law enforcement officers to shoot drug-traffickers to deal with a narcotics emergency facing the country.
“Be firm, especially to foreign drug dealers who enter the country and resist arrest. Shoot them because we indeed are in a narcotics emergency position now,” Widodo said in a speech delivered at an event held by one of Indonesia’s political parties late on Friday.
His remarks have drawn comparison to that of…

The Philippine Congress on Saturday voted to extend President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in the south until the end of the year to defeat Islamist gunmen.
In a special joint session of the House and the Senate, legislators overwhelmingly backed Duterte’s bid to have martial law remain in force in the Mindanao region until December 31.
The vote came as troops continued their two-month long fight to wrest back the southern city of Marawi from militants inspired by…