The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regularly publishes compliance materials aimed at educating the business community in the UK. These are well worth a read by anyone involved in competition law compliance in the...more
A company that helps with or facilitates a cartel is at just as much risk of sanctions and penalties as are the actual cartelists. This was confirmed by the EU’s highest court (the European Court of Justice (ECJ)) on 22...more
11/13/2015
/ Cartels ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Fiat ,
Rebates ,
Starbucks ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On Oct. 5, 2015, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a set of final reports on its 15 point action plan to address Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). In an accompanying explanatory...more
10/14/2015
/ Arms Length Transactions ,
BEPS ,
Cross-Border ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EBITDA ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
G20 ,
International Tax Issues ,
OECD ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform ,
Transfer Pricing ,
U.S. Treasury
On 14 September 2015, an individual (Nigel Snee) was sentenced by a UK court to six months of imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, for committing the criminal “cartel offence”. He was also ordered to do 120 hours of...more
10/2/2015
/ Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Bid Rigging ,
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Cartels ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Dawn Raids ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Price-Fixing ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)
A self-described “small business” recently succeeded in obtaining an interim injunction (restraining an alleged abuse of dominance) in a UK court against the giant telecom provider Telefónica (trading in the UK under the name...more
9/1/2015
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Capital Markets Act (CMA) ,
Compensation Schemes ,
Competition Authorities ,
CRA ,
EU ,
Excessive Pricing ,
Injunctions ,
Small Business ,
UK ,
UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)
The EU food supply chain continues to be the subject of significant political and regulatory focus. Players in the sector at any level should carefully monitor the evolving situation, since there are plenty of opportunities...more
Continuing an EU-wide trend, yet another trade association has been fined in the UK for cartel activities. This time it was a medical professionals’ association. The message is clear; trade associations of all types need to...more
On 24 June 2015, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was defeated in its first attempt at convincing a jury to convict individuals for the UK criminal “cartel offence”. The jury was not persuaded that the two...more
On 10 June 2015, the European Union (EU) Council (comprised of the member states) approved a final compromise text on new EU rules for novel foods. Novel foods are foods not consumed in the EU to a significant degree before...more
Following a preliminary announcement in March, on 6 May 2015, the European Commission (EC) launched an antitrust inquiry into the e-commerce sector in the EU. The inquiry will focus on potential barriers erected by companies...more
6/1/2015
On 15 April 2015, the European Commission (EC) sent a Statement of Objections (preliminary statement of case) to Google alleging the company has abused its dominant position in the markets for general internet search services...more
A recent European Commission (EC) fining decision against UK-based broker ICAP confirms that companies which merely facilitate a cartel will be tarred with the same brush as those which actually engage in the cartel. The...more
For 2015, the food and beverage industry will experience governmental attention on a number of fronts. Given the Department of Justice’s recent success in prosecuting food manufacturing executives on criminal charges, the...more
3/2/2015
/ Barack Obama ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Grocery Stores ,
Immigration Reform ,
Popular ,
Restaurant Industry
There has been an important development in one of two UK criminal cartel cases against individuals which are currently being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). ...more
On 26 November 2014, the EU General Court (GC) (the EU’s second-highest court) upheld a EUR2.5 million fine imposed by the European Commission (EC) for obstructing an EC dawn raid. The case shows the crucial importance of...more
The long-running battle, started in 2003, between Belgian rough diamond dealer Spira and diamond producer De Beers came to an end recently. Spira had sought to convince the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) to intervene...more