Nearly a year after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced its Sustainability Taskforce, it has issued for consultation draft guidance to show how businesses can pursue green cooperation without fear of...more
Antitrust authorities continued their aggressive campaign against procedural merger control infringements in 2022. A total of EUR113.8m fines were imposed in 70 decisions across the jurisdictions surveyed....more
We have collected and analysed data on merger control activity for 2022 from 26 jurisdictions. We give you the key trends and developments from the past year, focusing in particular on the EU, UK, U.S. and China.
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On 20 October 2022, an adviser (Advocate General) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recommended that the ECJ uphold the European Commission (EC)’s appeal of a 2020 judgment by the lower-tier General Court (GC), which set...more
UK competition rules are facing unprecedented levels of change. Last month we reported on the UK Government’s intentions for broad reforms to the competition and consumer law regimes. Now, the Government has set out the...more
Following a consultation in summer 2021, which set out a suite of wide-ranging proposals for reforms to UK competition and consumer laws, the UK Government has now confirmed the changes that it plans to take forward.
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The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published for consultation its much-anticipated draft guidance on vertical agreements (Draft Guidance). ...more
In a move aimed at driving growth and delivering competitive markets that work for consumers, the UK government has published two consultations on proposals for reform of the UK competition and consumer rules.
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This is a focus for antitrust regulators across the globe, which is playing out most publicly in the context of acquisitions and business practices, in particular in the digital sector, that threaten nascent competitors and...more
On 21 May 2021, the UK's specialist competition court, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) gave judgment dismissing Sabre Corporation (Sabre)'s challenge to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)'s decision to prohibit...more
The UK Government commissioned John Penrose MP to undertake an independent review of UK competition policy last September. Penrose was specifically tasked with looking at potential reforms to the UK’s competition regime in...more
Since the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its Digital Markets Strategy in 2019 it has completed many of the priority tasks it had assigned itself – including conducting a market study on online...more
Since the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its Digital Markets Strategy in 2019 (see our alert on its 2019 priorities) it has completed many of the priority tasks it had assigned itself – including...more
The end of the Brexit transition period at 11pm on 31 December 2020 gives rise to significant changes to the application of antitrust and merger control rules in the UK.
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Hot on the heels of the publication of draft merger guidelines on procedure, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released proposed revised draft guidelines on its substantive competition assessment of...more
The table below sets out an overview, based on our current awareness of the position as regards foreign investment control, of the different approaches being taken by authorities around the world in response to the Covid-19...more
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM)’s Wholesale Fixed Access decision in the telecoms sector is the first Dutch market analysis based on a theory of joint dominance. The highest Dutch court for these...more
The European Commission (Commission) has the power to order companies suspected of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour to stop their conduct pending a final decision in an investigation – so-called “interim measures”. The...more
On 3 June the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published an independent report it had commissioned by Lear (an economics consultancy) aimed at evaluating past merger decisions in the digital sector taken by the...more
On 4 April the European Commission published an expert report on how competition policy should evolve in the digital era.
The report, titled “Competition Policy for the Digital Era”, has been prepared by a panel of three...more
The Senior Director for Antitrust Enforcement of the Competition and Markets Authority, Ann Pope, gave a speech in late 2018 on its competition enforcement work to date and what lies ahead.
Ms Pope discussed the increase in...more
On 13 March the UK Government published a report by an expert panel established by the Chancellor and led by Harvard economist and former White House economic adviser, Jason Furman, on reforms to competition rules and...more
On 25 February the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its preliminary proposals for legislative and institutional reforms to competition and consumer protection law and policy. The proposals if implemented have...more