Category: competition

Brexit and implications for UK Merger Control – Part 3/3: Managing and prioritising the CMA’s mergers workload – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted May 16th, 2017 in brexit, competition, EC law, mergers, news, treaties by sally

‘The Competition Bulletin is pleased to welcome the third in a three-part series of blogs on Brexit and merger control by Ben Forbes and Mat Hughes of AlixPartners. Ben and Mat are (with others) co-authors of the new Sweet & Maxwell book, “UK Merger Control: Law and Practice”.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 16th May 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Retail banking business models under strategic review by UK regulator – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 15th, 2017 in banking, competition, financial regulation, news by sally

‘The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened a review into business models in retail banking to assess the impact those models are having on competition and conduct in the market.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 12th May 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Just Eat faces competition inquiry over Hungryhouse takeover – The Guardian

Posted May 10th, 2017 in competition, food, internet, news, takeovers by sally

‘Just Eat’s proposed takeover of Hungryhouse is facing an in-depth investigation by the competition watchdog over fears restaurants could end up with a worse deal.’

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The Guardian, 10th May 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Illegal counterfactuals: the Court of Appeal shuts the back door – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted May 2nd, 2017 in appeals, competition, consumer credit, news by sally

‘Suppose a defendant to a competition claim runs a defence that, in the counterfactual world in which no anticompetitive conduct occurred, pricing would have been no different; and that the claimant replies, “maybe so, but only because you were at the same time operating some independent anti-competitive scheme, which must also be purged from the counter-factual”. Can the claimant amend his claim to plead the independent anti-competitive scheme raised in his Reply as the basis for a new substantive claim even where it would ordinarily be time-barred?’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 28th April 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

FCA to review investment platform market – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 20th, 2017 in banking, competition, consumer protection, financial regulation, news, reports by sally

‘The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will carry out an investment platforms market study in the coming year, it has announced.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th April 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Collective Proceedings in the CAT: mobility scooters roll on for now – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted April 10th, 2017 in adjournment, agreements, class actions, competition, consumer protection, judgments, news, retrospectivity, tribunals by sally

‘Last Friday the CAT handed down a judgment on the first ever-application for a collective proceedings order under the new regime introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The judgment will generally be welcomed by potential claimants, but it has a sting in the tail which may cause serious difficulties for class actions in other vertical infringement cases.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 6th April 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

CAT gives judgment on the first ‘opt out’ competition damages collective proceedings – Blackstone Chambers

Posted April 6th, 2017 in appeals, competition, consumer protection, damages, news by sally

‘The Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘CAT’) gave judgment on 31 March 2017 on the first ever application for a Collective Proceedings Order under the new competition damages collective action procedures introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.’

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Blackstone Chambers, 6th April 2017

Source: www.blackstonechambers.com

Challenges Arising from Brexit – Henderson Chambers

Posted April 6th, 2017 in brexit, company law, competition, consumer protection, EC law, insolvency, intellectual property, news, public procurement, treaties by sally

‘In the light of Brexit, uncertain times lie ahead! How can small businesses cope with the challenges which the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union will necessarily entail and with the uncertainty that will persist so long as no concluded agreement(s) has/have been struck between the British Government and its EU counterparts.’

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Henderson Chambers, 5th April 2017

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

Competition tribunal rejects bid to throw out first opt-out class action application – Litigation Futures

Posted April 5th, 2017 in adjournment, budgets, class actions, compensation, competition, damages, EC law, human rights, news, tribunals by sally

‘The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has rejected strenuous attempts to dismiss the first application to certify an opt-out class action under the new collective proceedings procedure.’

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Litigation Futures, 5th April 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Council faces complaint to competition watchdog over incinerator contract – Local Government Lawyer

Posted April 4th, 2017 in competition, complaints, local government, news by sally

‘A community-led recycling organisation has submitted a complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority claiming that a county council’s contract with an incinerator company breaks competition law.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 3rd April 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

CMA offers £100,000 to cartel whistleblowers – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 23rd, 2017 in advertising, anonymity, competition, news, whistleblowers by sally

‘The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an advertising campaign targeting illegal cartels, offering anonymity and a reward of up to £100,000 for whistleblowers.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd March 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

BT reaches deal with Ofcom to legally separate Openreach – The Guardian

Posted March 10th, 2017 in competition, news, pensions, telecommunications, transfer of undertakings by sally

‘BT has finally reached an agreement with Ofcom to legally separate Openreach, which controls the UK’s broadband infrastructure.’

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The Guardian, 10th March 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

When is an antitrust/competition claim caught by an arbitration clause? The Microsoft Mobile decision – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted March 9th, 2017 in agreements, arbitration, competition, contracts, news, price fixing, sale of goods by sally

‘The decision of the High Court in Microsoft Mobile Oy (Ltd) v Sony offers some helpful guidance as to when a competition law tort claim will be caught by an arbitration clause in a sale or supply agreement.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 7th March 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Class certification hearings – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 6th, 2017 in class actions, competition, damages, news, third parties, tribunals by sally

‘After a wait of more than a year from the introduction of class actions in the UK, there were two class certification hearings before the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in just over a month. Although in each case the CAT has yet to hand down its certification decision, the hearings have given some clear signals about how the CAT sees the regime.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 6th March 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Landline charges for 2m customers to be cut as telecoms watchdog steps in – The Guardian

Posted March 2nd, 2017 in competition, consumer protection, elderly, news, telecommunications by sally

‘Ofcom has slammed telecom providers for offering landline-only customers poor value for money, as it unveiled plans to force BT, the dominant provider, to cut bills by at least £5 a month, benefiting about 2.3 million people.’

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The Guardian, 28th February 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to formally notify EU of Sky bid – The Guardian

Posted March 1st, 2017 in competition, EC law, media, news, public interest by sally

‘Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is expected to formally notify the European competition regulator of its £11.7bn takeover offer for Sky later this week, after which the UK culture secretary will have to decide whether to launch an investigation into the extent of Murdoch’s control of UK media.’

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The Guardian, 1st March 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Watchdog forces BT to cut 2m users’ phone bills by £5 per month – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 28th, 2017 in competition, elderly, news, telecommunications by sally

‘Watchdog Ofcom will force BT to cut phone bills of 2m customers by at least £5 per month, saying competition has failed a “vulnerable” group of elderly customers.’

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Daily Telegraph, 28th February 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

“Our legal services will stay on top”, minister declares in face of growing threat of competition post-Brexit – Legal Futures

Posted February 15th, 2017 in brexit, competition, EC law, legal services, news, referendums by sally

‘Justice minister Sir Oliver Heald has struck a bullish tone of defiance in response to concerns that Germany and the Netherlands are creating English-language commercial courts to compete with the UK for disputes post Brexit.’

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Legal Futures, 13th February 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Brexit and implications for UK Merger Control – Part 2/3: Implications for the CMA’s workload and what not to do – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted February 15th, 2017 in brexit, competition, EC law, mergers, news, referendums by sally

‘The Competition Bulletin is pleased to welcome the second in a three-part series of blogs on Brexit and merger control by Ben Forbes and Mat Hughes of AlixPartners. Ben and Mat are (with others) co-authors of the new Sweet & Maxwell book, “UK Merger Control: Law and Practice”.’

Full story

Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 10th February 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Brexit and implications for UK Merger Control – Part 1/3: Should UK merger control filings be mandatory? – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted January 24th, 2017 in brexit, competition, EC law, mergers, news, treaties by sally

‘The Competition Bulletin is pleased to welcome the first in a three-part series of blogs on Brexit and merger control by Ben Forbes and Mat Hughes of AlixPartners.’

Full story

Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 23rd January 2017

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com