THE COADJUVANCY OF THE MALAYSIAN REGULATORY POLICIES IN ADDRESSING THE CARTEL ACTIVITIES IN MALAYSIAN CORPORATIONS

Abstract

Cartels pose significant turbulence in many aspects, ranging from the increase in prices of goods and services to affect long-run economic growth and productivity. In 2010, the Competition Act was formulated to promote economic development by promoting and protecting the process of competition, thereby protecting the interests of consumers and to provide for matters connected therewith. However, in terms of the enforcement of the Act, Malaysia is still at the infancy stage. Hence, this paper attempts to examine the effectiveness of the Act in mitigating the cartel activities in Malaysia. Besides that, this paper also attempts to examine the collaborative feasibility between the Competition Act 2010 and Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Regulatory Policies) in addressing the cartel activities in Malaysian firms. This paper also offers suggestions to the policy makers to strengthen the feasibility of the Competition Act. Methodologically, an extensive literature review was carried out by the researchers based on the policies formulated in Malaysia and developed countries. A content analysis was also performed to identify major themes and delineate a crucial means to address cartel activities in Malaysia. The finding of the study revealed that there is a room for improvement in the Malaysian Competition Act 2010. Besides, the collaborative action between two regulatory policies are significant and it would  be able to curb the cartel activities in Malaysia.