Tag Archives: competition law

What does the CMA’s response to DCMS pro-innovation approach mean in practice?

By Cynthia O’Donoghue, Marjorie Holmes, Alexander Pierce, Vaibhav Adlakha and Michaela Hanzelova on Posted in Merger Control
The Competition & Markets Authority (‘CMA’) recently published its response to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s (‘DCMS’) policy paper on establishing a pro-innovation approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI) on 29 September 2022. This response corresponds with the new National Security & Investment Act 2021 coming into force. The National Security & Investment Act will see … Continue Reading

What will post-Brexit competition law enforcement look like?

By Marjorie Holmes, Ross Mackenzie, Emma Weeden, Vaibhav Adlakha and Dimitrios Pittas on Posted in Antitrust Compliance, Antitrust Enforcement Agencies
The EU and UK have very similar systems of competition law enforcement however Brexit has given the UK a degree of autonomy and the opportunity to apply its own rules and regulations independent of the European Commission.  We consider the likely practical impact of Brexit across three key areas of competition enforcement: investigations into violations of … Continue Reading

Price gouging in Europe: what are the rules and how has the pandemic shifted enforcement priorities?

By Max Seuster, Lucile Chneiweiss, Ross Mackenzie and Tilman Siebert on Posted in Antitrust Compliance, Antitrust Enforcement Agencies
Continuing our podcast series on price gouging laws, members of our global antitrust lawyers focus on the situation around price gouging (excessive pricing) in the EU, France, Germany and the UK in our latest instalment. The COVID-19 crisis has cast new light on excessive pricing practices in Europe, our team explains the impact the pandemic … Continue Reading

Is a robust compliance plan enough to ensure a discount from fines for anticompetitive activity?

By Marjorie Holmes, Ross Mackenzie, Edward Schwartz, Jennifer Driscoll, Dora Wang, Asha Sharma, Vaibhav Adlakha, Cindy Shen, Carolyn Chia and Celine Collis on Posted in Antitrust Compliance, Antitrust Enforcement Agencies
In certain jurisdictions, having a tailored and comprehensive compliance programme in place may reduce the size of a fine resulting from anticompetitive activity. Members from across our global competition team have come together to analyse the approaches of key jurisdictions and whether they offer discounts for businesses that have breached competition rules but have a … Continue Reading

CMA’s review of market remedies finds breaches across several markets

By Marjorie Holmes, Ross Mackenzie, Emma Weeden and Vaibhav Adlakha on Posted in Antitrust Enforcement Agencies
At a glance The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recently taken action against companies that have not complied with market investigation orders and undertakings across a range of industries. The CMA appears to be more actively enforcing against breaches of market investigation orders and undertakings – the remedies imposed by the CMA to address adverse … Continue Reading

EU Commission seeks to add new tools to tackle digital markets

By Lucile Chneiweiss and Emma Weeden on Posted in Other Antitrust and Competition
On 2 June 2020, the European Commission published an inception impact assessment regarding possible new tools to tackle structural competition issues arising on digital and non-digital markets. The Commission also published a separate inception impact assessment and open public consultation, requesting stakeholder contributions on how to address issues with large platforms acting as ‘gatekeepers’ to … Continue Reading

Competition law during the COVID-19 pandemic: several shades freed?

By Marc Lévy, Natasha Tardif and Lucile Chneiweiss on Posted in Antitrust Compliance
A version of this article was previously published in French by Le Club des Juristes. Following the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the French and European competition authorities announced certain changes to competition law. Companies will be able to cooperate in certain sectors, in particular with a view to promoting the supply, production … Continue Reading

How are competition law authorities responding to the unfolding COVID-19 crisis?

By Marjorie Holmes, Marc Lévy, Natasha Tardif, Vaibhav Adlakha, Courtney B. Averbach, Lucile Chneiweiss, Dr. Corinna Kammerer, Emma Weeden and Camille Martin Saint Leon on Posted in Antitrust Enforcement Agencies, Merger Control
With COVID-19 sweeping across the globe, competition law authorities and legislative bodies across the world are having to act quickly and flexibly to minimise disruption while ensuring business compliance and consumer protection. In our recent client alert, we take a look at how COVID-19 is shaping the competition landscape from a multi-jurisdictional perspective, honing in … Continue Reading

Advent International has proposed an acquisition of Cobham plc, but why is the UK Government getting involved – and what are the implications?

By Prajakt Samant, Marjorie Holmes, Simone Goligorsky, Vaibhav Adlakha and Conor Shevlin on Posted in Merger Control
On the grounds of national security, the UK Government made a surprising intervention in the U.S private equity firm Advent International’s proposed acquisition of Cobham plc, a British aerospace and defence company. Since the decision back in September to look into the acquisition, the UK Competition Market Authority has submitted a review to establish if … Continue Reading

What does ICAP’s successful appeal mean for competition law fines going forward?

By Marjorie Holmes, Vaibhav Adlakha and Emily Daniels on Posted in Antitrust Enforcement Agencies, Financial Services
ICAP’s successful appeal against the EU Commission’s €14.96 million fine for facilitating banks in influencing the LIBOR/TIBOR rates is hugely significant and signals a significant set back for the EU competition authority. The case was complicated and unusual from the start, the European Court of Justice clarified the level of detail required in a decision … Continue Reading

Our Paris EU, Competition and Regulatory team coaches clients on how to prepare and react to investigations from competition and regulatory authorities

By Natasha Tardif and Marc Lévy on Posted in Antitrust Enforcement Agencies, Government Investigations, Uncategorized
On 19 June 2019, our Paris office organized a client seminar on the topic: “Insight into competition and regulatory authorities’ investigations in France”. Our Paris competition partners Natasha Tardif and Marc Lévy spoke alongside in-house counsel Amandine Jacquemot, senior legal advisor at EDF, before a fully packed room composed of Paris contacts and clients. Natasha … Continue Reading

Dawn Raids: Essential tips for preparation and response

By Marjorie Holmes, Edward Miller, Emma Weeden and Vaibhav Adlakha on Posted in Antitrust Enforcement Agencies, Government Investigations
The EU Commission, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) or other sector regulators with competition powers may conduct unannounced onsite inspections of businesses if they suspect a breach of competition law through anti-competitive activity or conduct. These surprise inspections, often dubbed ‘dawn raids’, are employed to gather evidence in relation to suspected cartels. Such raids are … Continue Reading
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