In the context of a dawn raid under the EU Foreign Subsidy Regulation (FSR), the EU General Court (GC) has refused to suspend the European Commission (EC)’s request to access employees’ mailboxes located in China....more
This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. David Higbee (Global Head of Antitrust) and Dominic Long (Global Deputy Head of Antitrust) are our editors this month....more
6/6/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Australia ,
Competition Act ,
Compliance ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
French Competition Authority ,
Guidance Update ,
Healthcare ,
Investment ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will introduce groundbreaking new rules to regulate digital markets in the U.K. It aims to boost competition by controlling the conduct of the largest digital firms,...more
6/3/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Merger Controls ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will result in a landmark overhaul of the U.K. consumer protection regime. It will dramatically increase the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA's) enforcement powers...more
6/3/2024
/ Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will in the main start to take effect in stages later in 2024 and will bolster the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to enforce U.K. antitrust rules....more
6/3/2024
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Investigations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Remedies ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has finally been enacted. It introduces significant changes to U.K. merger control and antitrust rules, establishes a new consumer protection regime and introduces a...more
6/3/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Competition Act ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Rules ,
Online Platforms ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) took effect in July 2023. It aims to regulate subsidies granted by non-EU countries to ensure that they do not distort competition in the EU internal market. For dealmakers, it is...more
2/29/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
EU ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
International Trade ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements
Antitrust authorities continue to use powers to review deals that fall below merger control filing thresholds. For merging parties this means uncertainty. It is crucial that the possibility of review – including a...more
2/28/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Investment ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Threshold Requirements
Traditionally, private equity firms were seen as benign investors from an antitrust perspective. This is changing. In the past 12 months, PE-funded acquisitions have faced progressively more rigorous scrutiny by antitrust...more
2/28/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Merger Controls ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Global deal value and volume fell again in 2023, down 33% and 18% respectively compared to 2022. This is unsurprising, given persistently tough macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical tensions. Dealmakers are also facing an...more
2/28/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Australia ,
Competition Authorities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Merger Controls ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On 24 January 2024, the European Commission (EC) published its proposed reform of foreign investment screening in the EU. The proposal introduces more comprehensive rules for the review of foreign investments and strengthens...more
1/26/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Dual Use Goods ,
EU ,
EU Screening Regulation ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Greenfield Projects ,
Indirect Investors ,
International Harmonization ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
New Regulations ,
Research and Development ,
Risk Assessment ,
Semiconductors ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Technology Sector ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
The European Commission (EC)’s third annual report on EU foreign direct investment (FDI) screening covers the operation of the screening mechanism in 2022. Together with a Commission Staff Working Document, it details...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its final Green Agreements Guidance on how UK antitrust rules apply to green cooperation agreements between competitors (UK Green Guidance).
The UK Green Guidance...more
10/19/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Sustainability ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The EU is concerned about subsidies granted by non-EU countries to businesses active in the EU that could distort competition in EU markets.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) establishes a new suspensory notification...more
The EU is concerned about subsidies granted by non-EU countries to businesses active in the EU, that could distort competition in EU markets.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) establishes a new regime, enforced by the...more
The European Commission (EC) and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have published new guidance on the assessment of cooperation between competitors. For the EU, this is contained in revised Guidelines on...more
9/13/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
EU ,
Horizontal Agreements ,
Information Sharing ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On 13 July 2023, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave judgment on the long-running litigation between CK Hutchison and the European Commission (EC), arising out of the EC’s 2016 decision to prohibit CK Hutchison (owner of...more
Most of the provisions of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) take effect on 12 July 2023. The European Commission (EC) has also now adopted its long-awaited Implementing Regulation (IR), which contains the notification...more
The European Commission (EC) has been considering procedural amendments to the EU merger control rules since August 2016. It wants to simplify the review process for deals that are unlikely to raise antitrust concerns and to...more
We have collected and analysed data on merger control activity for 2022 from 26 jurisdictions. We give you the key trends and developments from the past year, focusing in particular on the EU, UK, U.S. and China.
...more
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement announced the introduction of a new windfall tax of 45% on the “extraordinary profits” of low carbon electricity generators, via the Electricity Generator Levy (the Generator Levy)....more
On 20 October 2022, an adviser (Advocate General) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recommended that the ECJ uphold the European Commission (EC)’s appeal of a 2020 judgment by the lower-tier General Court (GC), which set...more
With the EU FDI Regulation close to celebrating its second year anniversary, the European Commission (EC) has published its second annual report on EU FDI screening covering the operation of the mechanism in 2021. In...more
On 5 May 2021, the European Commission (EC) published a draft Regulation aimed at remedying distortions in the EU single market caused by companies receiving subsidies from non-EU entities.
...more
The European Commission published on 19 April 2021 a template notification form that EU Member States should use in the context of the cooperation mechanism put in place by the EU FDI Regulation....more