Category: competition

Private Actions: The CRA 2015 giveth; and the 2015 CAT Rules taketh away – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted October 5th, 2015 in appeals, civil procedure rules, competition, consumer protection, damages, EC law, jurisdiction, limitations, news, tribunals by sally

‘Today, on the 1st October 2015, when we are supposed to be celebrating the brave new world of the Competition Act 1998 (“CA”) as amended by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“CRA”), cartelists and other competition law infringers up and down the land must be rubbing their hands in glee at the transitional provisions contained in Rule 119 of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2015 (“the 2015 CAT Rules” or the “New Rules”).’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 1st October 2015

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Uber fires back in high court row with TfL – The Guardian

Posted October 2nd, 2015 in competition, internet, news, taxis by sally

‘Uber, the under-fire taxi-hailing app, has hit out at London’s transport regulator, Transport for London (TfL), for taking it to the high court on Monday in the latest threat to its explosive growth in the London taxi market.’

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The Guardian, 1st October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

US-style class actions introduced in UK – BBC News

Posted October 1st, 2015 in class actions, compensation, competition, consumer protection, news, tribunals by sally

‘A newly introduced law allows British courts to hear US-style class actions – where one or several people sue on behalf of a much larger group.’

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BBC News, 1st October 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

When should a decision be remitted to a different decision-maker? – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted September 28th, 2015 in appeals, competition, health, hospitals, inquiries, news, regulations, tribunals by sally

‘The Court of Appeal’s answer to this question in HCA International Limited v CMA [2015] EWCA Civ 492 was, in effect: rarely. The judgment, which contains some serious criticism of the CMA even though it won the case, illustrates just how high the threshold is before a court will insist that a remitted decision should go to a new decision-maker. It is not enough for the original decision-maker to have made a mistake, however conspicuous. Rather, there needs to be a reasonable perception of unfairness or damage to public confidence in the regulatory process.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 25th September 2015

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Adopting new structures for chambers “not so important”, say heads of newly merged set – Legal Futures

Posted September 9th, 2015 in barristers, competition, mergers, news by sally

‘Structures are “far from being as central to the success of a modern set as their proponents suggest”, the joint heads of the newly merged Drystone Chambers have argued.’

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Legal Futures, 8th September 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Google says European Commission’s search engine dominance case is “wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics” – Zenith Chambers

Posted September 4th, 2015 in competition, internet, news by sally

‘Google has responded to the Commission’s Statement of Objections in its search engine dominance investigation, maintaining that the case is without factual, legal or economic foundation.’

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Zenith Chambers, 1st September 2015

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Payment Systems Regulator Publishes Guidance on Concurrent Competition Powers – Zenith Chambers

Posted September 4th, 2015 in banking, competition, financial regulation, news by sally

‘On 13 August 2015 the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) issued guidance on how it will apply its concurrent competition law powers in relation to participation in payment systems.’

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Zenith Chambers, 26th September 2015

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

CMA new voluntary redress rules provide a route to compensate victims of competition law infringements – Zenith Chambers

Posted September 4th, 2015 in compensation, competition, news, penalties by sally

‘The Competition and Markets Authority has finalised its guidance on its new powers to approve voluntary redress schemes with effect from 1 October 2015. It explains the circumstances in which the CMA and the concurrent competition regulators may offer up to a 20% discount in the administrative penalty where businesses who have infringed competition law establish schemes to compensate their victims.’

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Zenith Chambers, 18th August 2015

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Competition watchdog postpones publication of banking inquiry – The Guardian

Posted September 4th, 2015 in banking, competition, news, reports by sally

‘The Competition and Markets Authority has backtracked on its pledge to publish the provisional findings of its investigation into the banking sector this month.’
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The Guardian, 3rd September 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Arcadia Group Brands Ltd and others v Visa Inc and others – WLR Daily

Posted August 12th, 2015 in appeals, competition, law reports, limitations by sally

Arcadia Group Brands Ltd and others v Visa Inc and others [2015] EWCA Civ 883; [2015] WLR (D) 359

‘Competition cases were not to be treated differently to other claims for the purposes of the application of the “statement of claim” test in the context of section 32(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, which provided for the postponement of the limitation period in the case of concealment of any fact relevant to the plaintiff’s right of action.’

WLR Daily, 5th August 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Yes, m’lud, an airline losing your luggage is awful – so is raising the issue in court – The Guardian

Posted July 31st, 2015 in abuse of position of trust, airlines, competition, judges, news by sally

‘Justice Peter Smith raised the matter of his own lost luggage 33 times in a British Airways competition case. If all judges did this, some companies would never get a fair hearing.’

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The Guardian, 30th July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

European Commission sends Statement of Objections in pay-TV investigation – Zenith Chambers

Posted July 28th, 2015 in competition, EC law, licensing, media, news by sally

‘The European Commission has issued a statement of objections to Sky UK and six major US film studies (Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox andWarner Bros).The Commission has formed a preliminary view that a licensing agreement between SkyUK and the studios restricts the ability of Sky to sell its pay-TV services to customersoutside the UK and Ireland.’

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Zenith Chambers, 24th July 2015

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

High Court: solicitors had duty to advise on commercial element of deal – Legal Futures

Posted July 13th, 2015 in causation, competition, covenants, negligence, news, restraint of trade, solicitors by sally

‘The High Court has dismissed a claim against a firm of solicitors, despite finding it negligent in failing to raise the absence of a covenant in restraint of competition during the purchase of a commercial property.’

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Legal Futures, 13th July 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Regulator opens investigations into transparency of paid online endorsements – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 22nd, 2015 in advertising, codes of practice, competition, consumer protection, disclosure, internet, news, unfair commercial practices by sally

‘The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating whether a number of businesses have broken consumer protection laws by failing to disclose that they have paid others to endorse their company online.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th June 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Frank Wijckmans talk to Law Vox about competition law – OUP Law Vox

Posted June 17th, 2015 in competition, EC law, news, third parties by sally

‘In this podcast competition law expert Frank Wijckmans talks to George Miller about many aspects of competition law. In a wide-ranging discussion they cover definitions and awareness, leniency and fining regimes, and recidivism as well as liability and third party claims. Frank also situates cartels within the broader landscape of EU competition law and discusses how much of priority they are to the authorities.’

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OUP Law Vox, 6th June 2015

Source: www.soundcloud.com/oupacademic

HCA International Ltd v Competition and Markets Authority – WLR Daily

Posted June 3rd, 2015 in appeals, bias, competition, law reports, tribunals by sally

HCA International Ltd v Competition and Markets Authority [2015] EWCA Civ 492; [2015] WLR (D) 221

‘The Court of Appeal gave guidance as to the appropriate principles to be applied by a court or tribunal, having quashed a decision by an administrative body, in deciding whether it should remit that decision to be remade by a freshly constituted decision-making body.’

WLR Daily 21st May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

UK competition authority gains power to make recommendations on how proposed laws would affect competition – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 28th, 2015 in competition, legislation, news by sally

‘The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) now has the power to make written recommendations to UK government ministers on how legislative plans before the UK parliament could impact on competition in UK markets.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 27th May 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

How to stop your business leaving the building… – Technology Law Update

Posted May 28th, 2015 in company directors, competition, employment, injunctions, intellectual property, news by sally

‘The nightmare scenario. Your co-directors leave and set up a competing business. They lure employees to join them and use your systems and processes to create a copycat product or service. What can you do?’

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Technology Law Update, 27th May 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

Recovering penalties from directors and employees: Safeway revisited – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted April 30th, 2015 in company directors, competition, damages, employment, fines, news, penalties by sally

‘Can a company which has been fined for anticompetitive conduct seek to recover the fine from the directors and employees responsible by suing them for damages?’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 29th April 2015

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Ofcom to consider impact of mobiles and VOIP on landline providers’ market dominance as part of next review – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 9th, 2015 in competition, consultations, news, telecommunications by sally

‘The growing use of mobile phones, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and text-based and social media services to initiate calls may mean that the UK’s dominant landline telephone providers no longer require the strictest form of regulation, Ofcom has suggested.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 8th April 2015

Source: www.out-law.com