Hong Kong competition watchdog proposes extending civil limitation to 10 years
Hong Kong's Competition Commission has proposed extending the civil limitation period under the Competition Ordinance from five to 10 years. The proposal was made during a legislative meeting on fire safety reforms following a major fire. Lawmakers also discussed whistleblower rewards and cross-depa
Hong Kong's Competition Commission (竞委會) has proposed extending the limitation period for civil proceedings under the Competition Ordinance from five to 10 years after a violation is discovered. The proposal was put forward by the commission's chief executive, Bi Zhongming, during a joint meeting of the Legislative Council's security and economic development panels on 3 November 2026.
The meeting was convened to discuss government reforms in response to the independent committee report on the Wang Fuk Court (宏福苑) fire. Reforms include criminalising bid-rigging in building maintenance and setting up a cross-departmental task force to strengthen enforcement.
During the meeting, lawmaker Tang Biao from the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (工聯會) suggested introducing a reward system for whistleblowers and raised questions about the retroactive effect of any legislative changes. Security Secretary Tang Biao (鄧炳強) replied that the task force, which includes the police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), already has an informant fee system and would continue to use it. He added that the government would consider whether to adopt practices similar to the Housing Authority's reporting mechanism for public housing abuse after handling related cases.
Lawmaker Chan Yong from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB, 民建聯) asked whether departments would only handle cases within their own remit or follow up complaints to completion. Tang Biao said the Fire Services Department would assume “residual responsibility” for all fire safety complaints, meaning it would handle any complaint it receives and follow up until the relevant department takes over if the matter falls outside its direct purview.
Tang noted that Deputy Financial Secretary and acting Housing Secretary Wong Wai-lun (黃偉綸) had earlier said his bureau also adopts a residual responsibility approach. Tang said he believed this would become a culture of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.