UK CMA Provides First Informal Guidance on Environmental Sustainability Agreement -
On 14 December 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its first informal guidance on the application of UK...more
European Commission Adopts New Rules on Horizontal Agreements in the EU -
On 1 June 2023, the European Commission adopted important new rules concerning the treatment under EU competition law of horizontal cooperation...more
UK CMA Disqualifies More Directors for Anti-Competitive Behaviour -
Following the director disqualifications reported in the February/March 2021 edition of this newsletter, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)...more
“True Brexit” Happened: Impact on Competition Law -
After formally leaving the EU early in 2020, the UK on 31 December finally left the EU’s single market and customs union at the end of the transitional period. Despite...more
Buyer Beware: UK Foreign Direct Investment Rules Now Much Tougher -
The UK will see a dramatic strengthening of its protections against foreign direct investment under proposed rules announced by the government on 11...more
EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 -
While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid and public procurement rules,...more
Textbook Long-Term Cartel Fined in the EU -
On 27 September 2019, the European Commission announced it had fined two canned vegetable suppliers for participating in a cartel that ran for more than 13 years. Another...more
BE CAREFUL WHEN POOLING DATA -
On 14 May 2019, the European Commission provided a reminder that, although often pro-competitive and legal, in some situations data-pooling arrangements may be seen as anti-competitive....more
First UK Award of Follow-On Cartel Damages -
On 9 October 2018, a UK court awarded damages in a follow-on private cartel damages claim. This is the first such award by a UK court and a major development in private...more
Illegal Distribution Activities in the Spotlight Across the EU -
Online and offline distribution issues remain a key focus of competition law regulators in the EU. This has been demonstrated yet again in recent weeks,...more
A company that helps with or facilitates a cartel is at just as much risk of sanctions and penalties as are the actual cartelists. This was confirmed by the EU’s highest court (the European Court of Justice (ECJ)) on 22...more
11/13/2015
/ Cartels ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Fiat ,
Rebates ,
Starbucks ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On 14 September 2015, an individual (Nigel Snee) was sentenced by a UK court to six months of imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, for committing the criminal “cartel offence”. He was also ordered to do 120 hours of...more
10/2/2015
/ Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Bid Rigging ,
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Cartels ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Dawn Raids ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Price-Fixing ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)
Continuing an EU-wide trend, yet another trade association has been fined in the UK for cartel activities. This time it was a medical professionals’ association. The message is clear; trade associations of all types need to...more
On 24 June 2015, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was defeated in its first attempt at convincing a jury to convict individuals for the UK criminal “cartel offence”. The jury was not persuaded that the two...more
A recent European Commission (EC) fining decision against UK-based broker ICAP confirms that companies which merely facilitate a cartel will be tarred with the same brush as those which actually engage in the cartel. The...more
There has been an important development in one of two UK criminal cartel cases against individuals which are currently being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). ...more