Chambers Global Practice Guides - Merger Control 2019: Japan

Madoka advises clients on various matters of competition law, including domestic and international cartels, bid-rigging, M&A transactions, investigations by the JFTC, leniency applications and general antitrust law compliance. She is especially active in cross-border transactions. She has represented clients in connection with investigations into various global cartels, involving air cargo, marine hoses, TFT-LCDs, airlines, and bearings, and also in various merger-control cases, including a vertical integration between semiconductor equipment manufacturers, and major global merger transactions in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. She has particular strength and experience handling IT-industry mega deals. Madoka is also active in advising in the international trade area, in particular, government procurement and export control. In addition, she advises on laws preventing unfair competition, including trade secret cases. She served as lead counsel to Nippon Steel Corporation in multinational trade secret litigation against POSCO (a South Korean steel company), a landmark case in this area, and successfully negotiated a favorable settlement for her client. She was a member of the Subcommittee on Unfair Trade Policies and Measures of the Industrial Structure Council at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2013 to 2023.

Kazumaro’s antitrust practice spans various industries, including automotive, energy, telecommunication, medical/healthcare and finance. Kazumaro regularly represents clients in high-profile matters, including merger and acquisitions that require approval in multiple jurisdictions, and global and domestic cartel investigations.

Tatsuya handles all aspects of competition law-related matters, such as merger control, bid rigging and cartel investigations, anti-trust litigation, and unfair trade practice regulations. He is also involved in advocacy efforts towards the development of competition policy. Tatsuya regularly advises on a number of digital and platform-related competition law cases, and has extensive experience in competition law matters within the infrastructure and energy sectors.

He is well-versed in a wide range of regulatory matters regarding legal issues in the new technology industry, including digital platforms, cloud computing, advertising, AI, data centers, social media, telecommunication services, radio waves, cybersecurity, FinTech, and consumer protection for domestic and international clients. He also offers guidance on analysis and strategy development pertaining to legal and public policy issues in the emerging areas of digital policy and regulations, as well as public policy matters (e.g., sustainability) in light of domestic and international political and policy trends.

He has published numerous works concerning digital policy and regulation, and his work in the field of competition law was featured in the Academic Retrospective of the notable legal journal Horitsujiho in 2023 and 2024.