As the new European Commission (EC) assumes office for the 2024 – 2029 term, in-house legal counsel across industries must brace for an evolving regulatory environment that promises to influence the landscape of mergers and...more
Merger review has become an ever more critical path to successful M&A completion, as enforcement agencies, including the European Commission (EC), apply closer scrutiny to potential anti-competitive effects of M&A deals. With...more
The European Commission’s Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU’s economic security, issued on October 3, 2023, kick-started an urgent risk assessment by policymakers and private sector stakeholders across...more
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), the European Union’s new screening tool for third-country subsidies, introduces a novel and additional layer of scrutiny in public procurement. Companies that take part in sizeable...more
On 13 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its first ruling on the European Union Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation, which entered into force in October 2020. In short, the...more
The European Union’s new screening tool for third-country subsidies introduces a novel form of mergers & acquisitions scrutiny. Companies worldwide need to account for timing and execution risks arising from this system when...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division secured its first win in a criminal enforcement of labor market antitrust violations on October 27, 2022, when nurse staffing company VDA OC pleaded guilty to violating...more
On 22 October 2021, European Commission Executive Vice President and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager invoked a new era for cartel enforcement in the EU, announcing:
A wave of dawn raids in the coming months....more
The European Commission (EC) recently published new guidance on the application of the referral mechanism set out in Article 22, which permits the EC to review any transaction referred to it, even if the transaction does not...more
On 24 December 2020, the European Union and the UK Government reached an agreement on the terms of their future cooperation, known as the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement is a...more
On November 27, the UK Government announced the introduction of a new regulatory regime for digital platforms to be overseen by a dedicated Digital Markets Unit from April 2021. This announcement comes following a market...more
On 11 November 2020, the UK Government published its long-awaited National Security and Investment Bill (NSI Bill). The NSI Bill introduces for the first time a new standalone regime for the screening of foreign investments...more
European Commission publishes findings of its evaluation of EU competition rules on vertical agreements -
On September 8, the European Commission (EC) published a Staff Working Document summarising the findings of its...more
In the UK, there is currently no separate foreign direct investment (FDI) screening regime. Instead, the UK government can only intervene in limited circumstances where a transaction raises at least one of the following...more
Governments across the globe have been tightening up efforts to screen foreign investments by implementing legislation to protect their own national interests and economies. This has become ever more apparent during the...more
On April 22, 2020, the UK Competition and Markets Authority published guidance on its approach to merger assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the CMA's approach remains unchanged: statutory deadlines remain in...more
All over the world, businesses are facing exceptional challenges, from disruptions to their supply chains to unprecedented rises in demand for certain products and services. To tackle these challenges, businesses may need to...more
Any measure by EU member states granting a selective financial advantage to one or more companies and capable to distort competition is considered state aid. State aid needs prior notification and approval by the European...more