Hot on the heels of the UK government’s February 2025 draft "strategic steer", the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published a new Mergers Charter. The Charter details principles the CMA will apply when engaging...more
Foreign investment (FDI) screening regimes continued to present challenges for dealmakers. We saw tough intervention in key jurisdictions. New and expanding rules added to regulatory burden. Overall, most deals are cleared...more
2/28/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Compliance ,
EU ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Global Market ,
Investment ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
UK
Searching for ways to achieve its promised ‘growth’ and productivity ambitions, the UK government turned its gaze on the UK regulators around October last year, with the UK prime minister promising to “rip up the bureaucracy...more
Chief executive of the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sarah Cardell, has announced that the authority will launch a review of its approach to merger remedies in early 2025.
Most notably, this will include a...more
In the context of a dawn raid under the EU Foreign Subsidy Regulation (FSR), the EU General Court (GC) has refused to suspend the European Commission (EC)’s request to access employees’ mailboxes located in China....more
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will introduce groundbreaking new rules to regulate digital markets in the U.K. It aims to boost competition by controlling the conduct of the largest digital firms,...more
6/3/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Merger Controls ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will result in a landmark overhaul of the U.K. consumer protection regime. It will dramatically increase the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA's) enforcement powers...more
6/3/2024
/ Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will in the main start to take effect in stages later in 2024 and will bolster the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to enforce U.K. antitrust rules....more
6/3/2024
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Investigations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Remedies ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has finally been enacted. It introduces significant changes to U.K. merger control and antitrust rules, establishes a new consumer protection regime and introduces a...more
6/3/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Competition Act ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Rules ,
Online Platforms ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The European Commission (EC)’s third annual report on EU foreign direct investment (FDI) screening covers the operation of the screening mechanism in 2022. Together with a Commission Staff Working Document, it details...more
The EU is concerned about subsidies granted by non-EU countries to businesses active in the EU that could distort competition in EU markets.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) establishes a new suspensory notification...more
The EU is concerned about subsidies granted by non-EU countries to businesses active in the EU, that could distort competition in EU markets.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) establishes a new regime, enforced by the...more
The second annual report on the functioning of the UK’s investment screening regime has been published. We highlight the key points....more
Most of the provisions of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) take effect on 12 July 2023. The European Commission (EC) has also now adopted its long-awaited Implementing Regulation (IR), which contains the notification...more
To address concerns around the transparency and predictability of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA) regime, the UK government has published the second edition of its “market guidance notes”. Following the...more
The semiconductor industry is based on a highly specialized supply chain where no one country or region dominates both design and manufacturing. This has created an industry where collaboration is global in nature. This...more
Nearly a year after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced its Sustainability Taskforce, it has issued for consultation draft guidance to show how businesses can pursue green cooperation without fear of...more
On 6 February 2023, the European Commission (EC) launched a public consultation on a draft implementing regulation (IR) which sets out procedural rules relating to the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR)....more
The UK government has announced that it will require Chinese-owned technology company Nexperia BV to sell the 86% shareholding it acquired in July 2021 in the UK’s largest semiconductor plant, Newport Wafer Fab (since...more
The UK’s new national security screening tool has been in force for over 9 months and its impact on deal making is being felt. Determining whether notification is required can be complex and while the notification process...more
The UK National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA) has been in force for over six months. We know that within the first three months, the UK government received 221 notifications and “called-in” 17 deals for a more...more
The tightening of controls on foreign direct investment (FDI), on national security or national interest grounds, is having a significant impact on technology transactions – a trend that is only likely to grow....more
This is a focus for antitrust regulators across the globe, which is playing out most publicly in the context of acquisitions and business practices, in particular in the digital sector, that threaten nascent competitors and...more
The UK’s competition authority has stepped up its enforcement of procedural breaches of merger control rules in the past 12 months. This is part of a global trend that has seen enforcement fines exceed EUR140 million globally...more