Pfleiderer AG v Bundeskartellamt – WLR Daily

Posted June 20th, 2011 in competition, disclosure, EC law, evidence, law reports by sally

Pfleiderer AG v Bundeskartellamt (Case C-360/09); [2011] WLR (D) 196

“A person adversely affected by an infringement of European Union competition law was not precluded by the provisions of that law from being granted access to documents relating to the leniency procedure for the purposes of bringing a civil action for damages.”

WLR Daily, 14th June 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

OFT to act on ‘Big Four’ audit firms – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 18th, 2011 in accountants, competition, news, unfair commercial practices by tracey

“The ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms are to face regulatory intervention for anti-competitive behaviour, which would severely curb the industry’s most powerful companies and cost them hundreds of millions in revenue.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 18th May 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów v Tele2 Polska sp zo o (now Netia SA) – WLR Daily

Posted May 9th, 2011 in competition, EC law, law reports by sally

Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów v Tele2 Polska sp zo o (now Netia SA) Case C-375/09; [2011] WLR (D) 149

“A national competition authority, having examined whether there was an abuse of a dominant position pursuant to its own national law and pursuant to article 102FEU of the FEU Treaty (ex article 82EC of the EC Treaty), was not entitled to take a decision stating that there had been no breach of article 102FEU of the FEU Treaty.”

WLR Daily, 3rd May 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

House of Lords report attacks ‘complacency’ of Big Four auditors in financial crisis, urges competition investigation – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 31st, 2011 in auditors, competition, financial regulation, news, reports by sally

“The House of Lords has recommended that Britain’s competition authorities investigate the world’s ‘Big Four’ auditing firms who failed to warn regulators about banks before the financial crash.”

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Daily Telegraph 30th March 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Telefónica Móviles España SA v Administración del Estado, Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones – WLR Daily

Posted March 25th, 2011 in competition, EC law, fees, law reports, telecommunications by sally

Telefónica Móviles España SA v Administración del Estado, Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones (Case C-85/10);  [2011] WLR (D)  102

“National legislation that provided for a fee to be levied on operators of telecommunications services holding individual licences for the use of radio frequencies, but which did not allocate a specific use to the income derived from that fee, and which significantly increased the fee for a particular technology, was not precluded by article 11(2) of Directive 97/13/EC.”

WLR Daily, 10th March 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Health Bill amounts to ‘abolition’ of NHS, academic warns – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 23rd, 2011 in competition, health, news by sally

“Controversial Government reforms will spell the end of the NHS as it stands, academics warn, as the Health Secretary was forced to reassure MPs that hospitals and doctors would not face accusations of running cartels.”

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Daily Telegraph, 22nd March 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Ofgem to tackle ‘complex and unfair energy bills’ – BBC News

Posted March 21st, 2011 in competition, consumer protection, energy, news by sally

“Regulator Ofgem has told energy firms they must offer simpler tariffs to help consumers compare prices.”

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BBC News, 21st March 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Competition law reform could lead to more criminal prosecutions, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 18th, 2011 in competition, news, prosecutions by sally

“The reforms of competition law proposed by the Government today could lead to more people being convicted of the criminal cartel offence, according to one expert.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 16th March 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Merger of Competition Commission and OFT meets with muted response – The Lawyer

Posted March 17th, 2011 in competition, consultations, consumer protection, mergers, news, quangos by sally

“Competition lawyers have offered a lukewarm response to Government proposals to streamline and improve the UK’s competition regime.”

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The Lawyer, 16th March 2011

Source: www.thelawyer.com

British Telecommunications plc v Office of Communications (Hutchison 3G UK Ltd intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted March 14th, 2011 in appeals, competition, law reports, tribunals by sally
“On its true interpretation section 192(6)(a) of the Communications Act 2003 did not impose a statutory bar on the introduction of fresh evidence on an appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.”
WLR Daily, 11th March 2011

Financial watchdogs get new powers – The Guardian

Posted February 17th, 2011 in banking, competition, consumer protection, financial regulation, news by sally

“Investors and consumers will be given greater protection by new financial watchdogs which will have the power to ban retail products and reveal pending enforcement actions against banks and brokers.”

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The Guardian, 17th February 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jeremy Hunt resigned to judicial challenge over BSkyB bid – The Guardian

Posted January 13th, 2011 in competition, media, news, takeovers by sally

“The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said today he expects his decision on whether to allow the proposed takeover of BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to be judicially challenged whatever decision he comes to.”

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The Guardian, 12th January 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

OFT backs replacement of criminal penalties with civil ones – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 26th, 2010 in competition, consumer protection, Law Commission, news by sally

“Competition law and consumer watchdog the Office of Fair Trading has welcomed a legal reform proposal that would reduce its reliance on criminal law but has said that proposal should be less rigid to allow it to protect consumers.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 25th Novmber 2010

Source: www.out-law.com

BCL Old Co Ltd and others v BASF SE ( formerlyBASF AG) and others (No 2) – WLR Daily

Posted November 17th, 2010 in competition, damages, law reports, time limits, tribunals by sally

BCL Old Co Ltd and others v BASF SE (formerly BASF AG) and others (No 2) [2010] EWCA Civ 1258; [2010] WLR (D) 290

“There was no power under the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2003 to extend time for bringing proceedings for follow-on damages under the Competition Act 1998.”

WLR Daily, 15th November 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Reckitt Benckiser fined £10.2m by OFT – The Guardian

Posted October 15th, 2010 in competition, fines, medicines, news by sally

“Drug company stopped NHS doctors prescribing cheaper alternatives to its heartburn medicine Gaviscon.”

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The Guardian, 15th October 2010

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

OFT to merge with Competition Commission – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 14th, 2010 in competition, news, quangos by sally

“The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to be merged with the Competition Commission (CC) in a Government bid to ‘increase the clarity’ of competition law enforcement.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 14th October 2010

Source: www.out-law.com

Resident who fired catapult at gang of troublemakers wins court battle – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 30th, 2010 in assault, competition, gangs, news, provocation by sally

“A vigilante resident who was sued after firing a catapult at local troublemakers has been vindicated by a judge.”

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Daily Telegraph, 29th September 2010

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

OFT launches online hotel booking probe – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 24th, 2010 in competition, hotels, internet, news, price fixing by sally

“The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is investigating whether the sale of hotel room bookings on the internet breaches competition law, looking into whether an allegedly long-established pricing mechanism is anti-competitive.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 20th September 2010

Source: www.out-law.com

Ofcom ‘to review’ News Corp bid for BSkyB – BBC News

Posted September 16th, 2010 in competition, media, mergers, news by sally

“The BBC has learned that Ofcom will be asked to review News Corporation’s bid for BSkyB once a formal offer is made.”

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BBC News, 15th September 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd and others v Dow Deutschland Inc and others – WLR Daily

Posted July 27th, 2010 in appeals, company law, competition, EC law, jurisdiction, law reports by sally

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd and others v Dow Deutschland Inc and others [2010] EWCA Civ 864; [2010] WLR (D) 199

“Once the Commission of the European Communities had found that an undertaking had participated in anti-competitive practices the undertaking to could not rely on the English domestic law concept of separate corporate entity to argue that the undertaking as a whole or a parent company in the group had not participated in those practices. Where it was alleged in a claim against the defendants that representatives of those alleged to have been party to the anti-competitive behaviour had had discussions to co-ordinate that behaviour and that those discussions had led to each of the defendants co-ordinating their anti-competitive behaviour, that was sufficient to allow the claim against the defendants to continue even if none of the defendants fined by the commission was domiciled in England.”

WLR Daily, 26th July 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.