The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (UK DMCC) introduces significant reforms to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (UK CMA) and competition laws. The UK DMCC forms part of a global trend to focus...more
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 received Royal Assent on May 24, 2024, ushering in the most significant reforms to the UK’s competition and consumer protection laws in a generation. The Act introduces...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published an update paper outlining its concerns with AI foundation models (FMs). The CMA’s September 2023 initial Report on FMs set out its early views on how FMs...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a roadmap on January 11, 2024 setting out its provisional approach for the implementation of Part 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (DMCC). The...more
In 2023, cartel fines in key jurisdictions increased by 7.7%—totaling $1.4 billion—compared to 2022. While the totals remain significantly below the peaks seen in the mid-2010s, 2023 saw record fines imposed in several...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published for consultation a series of proposals to improve its Phase II merger investigation process. This follows an earlier Call for Information in which the CMA...more
In two recent judgments, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) mandated information access rights by independent vehicle repairers to vehicle data under Regulation (EU) 2018/858. The judgments are likely to facilitate access to...more
Following feedback on the first edition of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) market guidance, a recently published second edition clarifies aspects of the NSI Act for businesses falling within its scope....more
The UK communications regulator and concurrent competition authority, Ofcom, announced on April 5 its proposal to refer the UK cloud services market to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for further investigation....more
With a couple of notable exceptions, cartel fines were lower in most jurisdictions in 2022 than in the prior year—and well below historical norms. Fines in the United States—long the leader in cartel enforcement—were lower...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has signalled its interest in bringing enforcement actions in the labour market by issuing guidance to employers on competition law compliance. The guidance warns employers that...more
On September 22, the Office of Communications (Ofcom)—the United Kingdom’s communications regulator—announced and released a program of work stating its intention to examine the position of the largest providers of cloud...more
While the global pandemic that began in 2020 continued throughout 2021, cartel enforcement activity increased among a number of leading enforcement jurisdictions. Overall, global fines in 2021 were up by 229 percent compared...more
1/5/2022
/ Anti-Monopoly ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Fines ,
Mergers
Laws in the United Kingdom and United States are increasingly taking a more restrictive view on the permitted scope of exclusivity and noncompete clauses. On December 4, 2020, the UK government launched a consultation on...more
The development of connected automobiles crystallizes the tensions between intellectual property law and competition law that have existed for years, particularly in the area of standard essential patents (SEPs). ...more
3/2/2021
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Automotive Industry ,
Competition ,
Connected Cars ,
EU ,
FRAND ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Patents ,
Standard Essential Patents
Despite the challenges of an unprecedented global pandemic, cartel enforcement activity in 2020 increased in many leading enforcement jurisdictions. Corporate fines, for example, more than doubled from 2019 in the United...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority published for consultation updated guidelines setting out its approach to analysing mergers on 17 November. The guidelines update the current merger assessment guidelines...more
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on 6 November published draft updates to two of its merger guidance documents (CMA2 and CMA56) in preparation for the end of the Brexit Transition Period on 31 December 2020....more
The UK government and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have announced the withdrawal of draft guidance on the CMA’s powers and procedures with respect to enforcing an EU regulation for screening foreign direct...more
The European Commission’s ability to block mergers in oligopolistic markets is likely to be more restricted as it faces greater evidential hurdles in meeting the higher standard of proof imposed by the EU General Court, which...more
Global cartel fine totals rebounded somewhat in 2019, approaching historical norms following two years of sharply lower fine levels.
The $6.1 billion total is the highest global fine level since 2016. Most of the increased...more
3/2/2020
/ Africa ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Asia ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Fines ,
South America
Cartel enforcement activity promises to remain busy In the coming months and into 2017
Cartel enforcement remains a priority for competition authorities around the world. Global cartel fines totaled more than $6...more
9/13/2016
/ Algorithms ,
Asia ,
Canada ,
Cartels ,
Colombia ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Authority ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Extradition ,
Fines ,
Foreclosure ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Germany ,
India ,
Italy ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Real Estate Market ,
Russia ,
Sherman Act ,
Shipping ,
Spain ,
Subpoenas ,
Yates Memorandum ,
Young Lawyers