IN BRIEF - Australia's new competition merger clearance regime is now live. It can now be used on a voluntary basis and becomes mandatory from 1 January 2026 for all acquisitions of shares or assets that meet the monetary...more
The Australian Treasury and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a consultation paper in which it proposes a full cost recovery regime for application fees under Australian's new mandatory...more
On 28 March 2025, the Australian Government (the Government) published its draft Determination providing the beginnings of detail about the acquisitions that are the subject of mandatory notification, some of the exceptions...more
On 4 March 2025, the ACCC released its much-anticipated guidance on how it proposes to manage the transition to Australia's new mandatory merger control regime. The guidance strongly suggests that, if the ACCC does not...more
In Brief - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb has just announced the ACCC’s Compliance and Enforcement priorities for 2025-2026....more
We’re excited to be visiting Sydney next week to catch up with competition law colleagues on our way to the ABA 2025 Asia-Pacific Conference. This is a time of unprecedented activity and change in antitrust law and policy...more
What’s Inside This Issue? This edition of the K&L Gates Competition & Consumer Law Round-Up provides a summary of recent and significant updates from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as well as...more
It is now confirmed that Australia will have a mandatory and suspensory (competition) pre-merger clearance regime with the passing of legislation last week....more
Australia’s mandatory suspensory merger control regime will come into force on 1 January 2026 following the passing of legislation by both houses of Parliament, representing a major shift for businesses, their advisors and...more
What's Inside this Issue? This edition of the K&L Gates Competition & Consumer Law Round-Up provides a summary of recent and significant updates from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as well as...more
Australia will soon shift to a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime, with the transition commencing mid-2025. We provide below our key takeaways and observations on the bill which now has the support of both major...more
In Brief - On 10 October 2024, the Australian Government introduced a bill into Parliament for Australia to enact a mandatory and suspensory competition merger clearance regime....more
The Australian Government (the Government) opened consultation on Australia’s proposed merger notification thresholds. The Consultation Paper proposes a notification regime that consists of four different thresholds—two based...more
On July 24 2024, the Australian Federal Government released its long-awaited exposure draft legislation to amend Australia's current informal merger clearance process to a mandatory merger control regime (Exposure Draft)...more
Spotlight on below-threshold merger reviews: doubts over European Commission’s powers while in depth probes launched in Italy - Last month, we reported on the landmark Advocate General (AG) opinion in Illumina/GRAIL. The AG...more
On 10 April 2024, Australia’s Federal Government announced far-reaching reforms to its merger control regime, most notably the introduction of a new single, mandatory and suspensory, merger control system. The reform package...more
In a move that has long been advocated for by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian government has announced sweeping reforms to Australia's competition law merger control regime....more
The Competition Review announced by the Australian Government on 23 August 2023 is well underway. A Competition Taskforce has been established, with the scope of the Review broad - extending beyond the current competition...more
For a number of years the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has advocated for amendments to the country’s merger control rules. The current regime is voluntary, and the ACCC cannot itself prohibit a...more
This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. Ellen Braun, partner based in Germany, is our editor this month (learn more about Ellen in our Q&A feature at the end...more
Competition law in Australia continues to evolve. Through an address to the National Press Club,1 the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released its proposal to Government for a new...more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced its 2023-24 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities this week.1 The priorities are weighted towards protecting consumers in a year characterised by...more
The ACCC’s remit is diverse and extensive. The breadth of work undertaken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and an insight into in the competition regulator's focus for the year ahead was...more
This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. Ioannis Thanos, counsel in Hamburg, is our editor this month....more
This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. Lisa Emanuel, counsel based in Sydney, is our editor this month (learn more about Lisa in our Q&A feature at the end...more