The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has raised the financial thresholds that trigger mandatory merger notifications, making it easier for some big business deals to avoid early scrutiny.

The anti-competition body said Monday that all companies will need to notify the PCC only if the Size of Party is over P9.1 billion and the Size of Transaction is over P3.8 billion starting this month.

Both thresholds must be met for a deal to be notifiable under the Philippine Competition Act and its rules. Joint ventures are also covered under the new limits.

“The adjustment ensures that the notification thresholds reflect inflation, economic growth, and prevailing market conditions, while enabling the Commission to effectively allocate its resources toward transactions that are more likely to have a substantial impact on competition in Philippine markets,” the PCC said.

The new limits were calculated using last year’s national economic growth and rounded up to the nearest P100 million, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority data.

PCC reviews mergers to prevent deals that could hurt competition. 

“By maintaining transparent and responsive notification thresholds, the Commission promotes regulatory certainty for businesses while safeguarding competitive market structures and protecting consumer welfare in the Philippines,” it added.

According to PCC, the deals below the thresholds are not automatically safe, as it can still review them if there are signs that the transaction could harm the market.