GCR Live: Law Leaders Asia-Pacific will address the most pressing antitrust issues facing in-house counsel and private practitioners in the Asia-Pacific region today.

Topics include -

Merger control

A panel of international speakers will discuss how competition regimes in the Asia-Pacific region compare and contrast to other enforcement models around the world. The panel will consider the substantive and procedural merger control issues faced by in-house counsel from companies looking to expand in Asia-Pacific and beyond, including recent developments in filing thresholds, review processes and review standards.

Cartel enforcement

Speakers will look at a selection of cartel enforcement regimes and recent cases from across the region and how they compare to international norms. The panel will examine how Asian companies react to cartel cases brought by antitrust authorities in the US, EU and Australia, and how cooperation between those agencies and Asian enforcers is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Abuse of dominance

China, India, Singapore and New Zealand are just a few of the Asia-Pacific jurisdictions that have seen major abuse of dominance cases in recent times – many of which are against state-owned, or state-fostered, companies. Panellists will compare and contrast abuse of dominance enforcement across the Asia-Pacific region.

Competition, intellectual property & technology

The Asia-Pacific region is home to several of the world’s leading technology hubs, including South Korea, Japan, China and India. This panel will provide a global perspective on the interface between competition law and intellectual property in the technology industries and the difficulties faced by corporate counsel in dealing with competition law issues relating to IP in Asia.

ASEAN enforcer roundtable

All 10 ASEAN countries have pledged to have fully-functioning competition laws by 2015. Some have long-established regimes, while others appear to have some way to go. This roundtable will focus on how south-east Asian countries are approaching competition law enforcement, significant cases that have arisen so far, and how competition law in the region is likely to develop in future.

Foreign investment review and national security

This panel will look at foreign investment review and national security both in China and in other countries worldwide (for example investments into the US, Australia and Canada) with a particular focus on investments made by state-owned enterprises.

China’s enforcement regime

Ever since China introduced competition laws three years ago, the country’s three enforcement bodies have been among the most heavily watched antitrust enforcers in the world, such is their potential impact on global business. This panel will examine the most significant recent developments in China’s enforcement programme, including this year’s substantial antitrust fines, the remedies imposed on state-owned telecoms companies and the country’s approach to merger control.

Global Arbitration Review will hold its 2^nd annual awards - charity dinner at The Grand Hotel.

The order of presentations will be:

• The unveiling of the GAR30 – positions 30 to 20

• Award for sustained contribution to best practice in international arbitration by an organisation

• Award for best lecture or speech

• Award for niche or regional practice that impressed in 2011

• Special award for contribution to arbitration culture in Sweden

• The unveiling of the GAR30 – positions 19-10

• Award for innovation by an arbitral institution

• Award for innovation by an individual (arbitrator, counsel or ‘other’)

• Award for most important published decision in jurisprudential terms (award or judgment)

• Best development of 2011

• GAR 10 – to 1, and crowning of the Number One firm of 2011

• Lifetime achievement award

The dinner will take place immediately after the IBA Welcome Reception and transport will be provided by GAR.

This year's event is in aid of 2 charities:

MEAC - www.meackenya.org - GAR are supporting a community driven project to build and maintain a dormitory at Kimuka Primary School in Kenya. Children as young as 5 years old currently walk up to 4 hours every morning and every evening to attend the school which is one of the poorest in the Masai region of southern Kenya. This project will provide the boarders with food and supervised accommodation allowing them to concentrate on their studies. It is being designed by local architects and will be built with locally sourced materials by skilled members of the local community.

Charity registration number: KJD/N/C.B.O/1802213/11

Childhood – www.Childhood.org - GAR are supporting the World Childhood Foundation which aims to help children suffering under difficult living conditions all around the world (homeless children, young mothers and abused children) focusing particularly on girls. It does so by providing support to existing projects, currently in Brazil, Russia, Belarus, South Africa, China, Thailand etc..

Discounted accommodation for dinner guests is available at The Grand Hotel - click here

GAR Awards – 2011-12 – voting now open and awaiting your nominations! The voting forms will be open until end of 30 January.

You can participate, online, using this survey form.

For award nomination enquiries please email AwardsGCR@GlobalCompetitionReview.com

For sponsorship enquiries, please email GCRLive@GlobalCompetitionReview.com

Nominations for the awards will open in early January for a month. GCR will then compile a short list by mid-February and voting will take place for 2 weeks in March. The award winners will then be announced on the night of 27^th March.

Latin Lawyer’s Corporate Finance Conference will help guide lawyers from law firms and the in-house community, as well as regulators and those from the business community interested in a detailed analysis of the issues, through this situation. Topics will include the growth in insolvency filings and how to get the best deal; tactics in secured lending; regulation of capital markets and securities; the growth in local markets – and more. Join us in São Paulo, the financial capital of Latin America, for insight into the key trends in the field in 2012.

Chaired by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

• Corporate Finance
• M&A
• Restructuring
• Project Finance
• Disputes
• Outbound Investment

Awards will be presented to winners on the night and winners will be photographed for our magazine.

This year's dinner will be held in aid of three of the region's pro bono clearing houses - proceeds will be donated to these charities:

ProVene, Venezuela
CIDSEP, Paraguay
Instituto Pro Bono Brasil

The event will immediately follow Latin Lawyer's Corporate Finance conference also held at the Hotel Unique - click here for details.