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
The UK government recently issued a Call for Evidence seeking input from stakeholders regarding potential changes to how it enforces the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA), which enables the UK government to...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
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
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
Two major transactions have recently faced headwinds in Germany and the United Kingdom, jurisdictions traditionally perceived as investor friendly. Specifically, Taiwanese-based investor GlobalWafers Co. Ltd. failed to obtain...more
The UK government announced on 20 July that the National Security and Investment Act will enter into force on 4 January 2022. This act introduces mandatory filings for certain investments raising national security concerns,...more
The UK National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) received royal assent on 29 April 2021. Expected to come into force in late 2021, the NSI Act will introduce a standalone UK foreign direct investment and national...more
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 proposed regime is a huge departure for the United Kingdom, since it introduces mandatory filings for certain investments raising a national security concern, while it also gives the UK government extensive call-in powers...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
In the span of two weeks in August, two different owners of allegedly standard essential patent (SEP) portfolios—asserted against the implementation of cellular standards including 4G/LTE—won cases in Germany and in the...more
9/11/2020
/ Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
DaimlerAG ,
ETSI ,
EU ,
FRAND ,
Germany ,
Huawei ,
IP Portfolio ,
Nokia ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Telecommunications ,
Threshold Requirements ,
UK ,
UK Supreme Court ,
Wireless Industry
As noted in our recent LawFlashes, New Powers for UK Government in Transactions Impacting Public Health Emergencies and National Security and Potential UK Reforms Could Increase Screening of Certain Foreign Takeovers,...more
The UK government passed reforms on 21 July 2020 lowering the thresholds to intervene in mergers and acquisitions considered relevant to UK national security in the artificial intelligence, cryptographic authentication, and...more
New reforms have given the UK government the power to intervene in acquisitions, with a view to maintaining in the United Kingdom the capability to combat and mitigate the effects of public health emergencies....more
6/28/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
National Security ,
Public Health ,
Restricted Transactions ,
UK
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
New guidance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority warns that it will not relax its substantive or evidentiary standards for merger investigations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ...more
From disrupting the supply of medical devices to affecting how they are regulated and sold in the United Kingdom (UK), Brexit could carry significant implications for UK healthcare and trade....more
Fines significantly down, several enforcement firsts and a strong pipeline of new, mainly domestic cartel cases around the world....more
7/26/2017
/ Automotive Industry ,
Brazil ,
Cartels ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Fines ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Dawn Raids ,
EU ,
Extradition ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fines ,
FTAIA ,
India ,
Peru ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Real Estate Market ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Whistleblowers
On 18 November 2016, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published interim findings from its year-long study of the country’s asset management sector—concluding that price competition is weak in several areas, and...more