On July 18, 2018, the European Commission (Commission) imposed a fine on Google LLC for the alleged abuse of a dominant market position pertaining to Android mobile devices. Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc....more
7/30/2018
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Advertising ,
Android ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Cease and Desist ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Fines ,
Google ,
Illegal Tying Arranegements ,
Incentives ,
Mobile Devices ,
Product Exclusivity
The European Commission (EC or the Commission) announced on July 24, 2018, that it has imposed a total fine of €111 million on four consumer electronics manufacturers — Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer — for...more
7/26/2018
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Electronics ,
Enforcement Actions ,
European Commission ,
Fines ,
Internet Retailers ,
Manufacturers ,
Price-Fixing ,
Raids ,
Resale Pricing
Global deal planning often overlooks merger control regimes in Southeast Asia. However, in recent months these regulators have become increasingly active and are enforcing failures to file relevant transactions for review....more
7/16/2018
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Asia ,
Competition Authorities ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fines ,
Indonesia ,
Malaysia ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Philippines ,
Popular ,
Singapore ,
Uber ,
Vietnam
Skadden’s Antitrust and Competition Group and the economics firm Charles River Associates recently hosted the eighth annual “Antitrust in the Technology Sector: Policy Perspectives and Insights From the Enforcers” seminar in...more
3/8/2018
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Big Data ,
Cartels ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fines ,
FRAND ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Innovation ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Technology Sector
Despite a year of continued global political uncertainty and increasing enforcement, shareholder activism and foreign investment control activity, the 2018 outlook for Europe is positive overall. Skadden partners in the U.K.,...more
1/26/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Antitrust Injuries ,
BaFin ,
Capital Markets ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Commission ,
Executive Compensation ,
Foreign Investment ,
France ,
Fraud ,
Germany ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Money Laundering ,
National Security ,
Private Equity ,
Russia ,
Sapin II ,
Securities ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Takeover Code ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Bribery Act ,
UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Collar Crimes
Antitrust merger enforcement historically has focused on horizontal mergers — consolidation of two firms that compete directly in the same space. This is especially true in the U.S., where antitrust authorities have...more
1/24/2018
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
AT&T ,
Burden of Proof ,
Competition ,
Corporate Branding ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dow Chemical ,
DuPont ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Illegal Tying Arranegements ,
Innovation ,
IP License ,
Judicial Review ,
Life Sciences ,
LinkedIn ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Microsoft ,
Multinationals ,
Qualcomm ,
Research and Development ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Tech Industry ,
Time Warner ,
Trump Administration ,
Vertical Mergers
On November 23, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) dealt a blow to the European Commission’s (Commission) power to close antitrust investigations with commitment decisions, with its ruling in...more
11/29/2017
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Commitment Decisions ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Oil & Gas ,
Supply Contracts ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
Void and Unenforceable
Three years ago, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) introduced a simplified merger review procedure to reduce the review time for transactions that do not pose significant competitive or industrial policy concerns in...more
On 26 October 2017, the European Commission (the Commission) opened an in-depth investigation into UK statutory rules that exempt certain financing income earned by foreign subsidiaries of UK corporate taxpayers from UK tax....more
10/31/2017
/ Anti-Avoidance ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Business Income ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Corporate Taxes ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financing ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Multinationals ,
State Aid ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
On September 6, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) quashed the 2014 judgment of the General Court (GC) that upheld a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel Corporation Inc. (Intel) for abusing a...more
9/8/2017
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
Competition ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
European Commission ,
Exclusive Dealing Agreements ,
Intel ,
Jurisdiction ,
Manufacturers ,
OEM ,
Pricing ,
Rebates ,
Set-Asides ,
Standard of Review ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
On 23 July 2017, the UK House of Lords’ EU Internal Market Sub-Committee launched an inquiry into the future of the enforcement of the UK’s competition rules once the UK leaves the European Union. Interested parties are...more
On 10 May 2017, two years after launching its e-commerce sector inquiry on 6 May 2015, the European Commission published its final report (Final Report) on the inquiry. The inquiry was opened in the framework of the...more
6/5/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Digital Single Market ,
E-Commerce ,
Electronics ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Final Rules ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Holidays ,
Hotels ,
Member State ,
UK ,
Video Games
The question of how "big data" should be treated in merger control and antitrust enforcement was a key issue for the European Commission and national regulators in European Union member states in 2016, with competition...more
2/1/2017
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Big Data ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Data Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
European Commission ,
Facebook ,
Federal Cartel Offices ,
France ,
French Competition Authority ,
Germany ,
Mergers ,
Privacy Concerns ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On October 21, 2016, Skadden presented a seminar titled “Antitrust Law and Policies From Brussels to Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Divide?” in Brussels. Former DG Competition Director General Sir Philip Lowe gave the keynote...more
12/19/2016
/ Brussels Regulation ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Free Movement ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On May 10, 2016, the French Competition Authority and German Federal Cartel Office published “Competition Law and Data,” a joint report on big data and its implications for competition law. The paper identifies issues that...more
5/19/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Big Data ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
Exclusivity Clauses ,
Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) ,
French Competition Authority ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Tying ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The German Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) has announced that it has initiated proceedings against Facebook for the company’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in a market for social networks.
The FCO appears to...more
3/11/2016
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Competition Authorities ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
Facebook ,
Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) ,
Germany ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Social Networks
On January 26, 2016, Skadden’s Antitrust and Competition Group and Charles River Associates hosted the sixth annual seminar “Antitrust in the Technology Sector,” with an emphasis on policy perspectives and insights from...more
On January 20, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a judgment reaffirming the independence of the cartel immunity and leniency regimes of the EU and member states. The ruling reasserts the obligation of...more
On December 8, 2015, the European Commission filed two Statements of Objections against U.S. semiconductor-maker Qualcomm Inc., alleging that the company had abused its dominant position in the baseband chipset market through...more
In late 2011 and early 2012, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) introduced a new and unique merger control remedy with far-reaching implications. In two separate decisions involving nearly simultaneous global acquisitions...more
10/28/2015
/ Acquisitions ,
China ,
Global Market ,
Hitachi ,
Hold-Separate Remedies ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
MOFCOM ,
Remedies ,
Samsung ,
Seagate ,
Technology Sector
China’s Anti-Monopoly Law requires businesses to notify transactions to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) for merger control review, so long as the parties meet certain revenue thresholds and the transaction involves a change...more
On October 6, 2015, the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) issued an important judgment clarifying the application of Article 102 to retroactive loyalty rebates (Post Danmark AS, Case C 23/14). The case, which had been...more
10/6/2015
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Advertising ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Customer-Loyalty Programs ,
Direct Advertising ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Mail ,
Monopolization ,
Rebates ,
Retroactive Application
On May 6, 2015, the European Commission (Commission) launched an antitrust sector inquiry into the e-commerce sector. This sector inquiry is part of the Commission’s broader Digital Single Market Strategy, which aims inter...more
E-commerce is at the top of the European Commission’s agenda, and recent developments suggest it will remain a priority. Several European Union member states have already taken an active interest in the issue.
...more
The Dutch competition authority (the Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM) has issued two decisions imposing fines on private equity firms for the participation of their portfolio company in the so-called flour cartel....more