Fierce Competition Podcast | Letter From London: The Rise of UK Class Actions and the Competition Appeal Tribunal
The United Kingdom remains a key European jurisdiction for competition damages actions, also in a post-Brexit world. In particular the number of collective proceedings for competition damages has significantly increased. This...more
UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 Makes Significant Changes to Competition and Consumer Protection Law - On 24 May 2024, the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) became...more
For the first time in two decades, the UK Court of Appeal has ruled on the substantive standard of judicial review to be applied by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT or Tribunal) in UK merger cases....more
On 22 April 2024, the UK High Court handed down its judgment that the Competition Appeal Tribunal had erred in law when it previously refused to grant the Competition & Markets Authority a warrant to search a domestic...more
The English High Court has issued a landmark judgment confirming the ability of the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") to conduct raids of private residential premises when investigating suspected cartels....more
The UK High Court has ruled against the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) in a case about the power of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) to search domestic premises when investigating suspected anti-competitive...more
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) recently issued its first-ever precertification ruling addressing a “carriage dispute” in the cases Hunter v. Amazon.com and Hammond v. Amazon.com. A carriage dispute arises where...more
This episode of our “Fierce Competition“ podcast looks at trends across the pond in class actions in the U.K. and focuses on the country’s new tribunal that was created specifically to hear class actions....more
Generally, claims in the UK (including class actions) can be settled without court approval. Settlement is particularly important in competition damages claims, given the complexity, uncertainty and cost of litigating these...more
EU General Court Confirms Geo-Blocking Illegally Partitions the Single Market - On 27 September 2023, the EU’s second highest court, General Court or GC, upheld a 2021 European Commission decision that geo-blocking...more
Recently the English Court of Appeal (CoA) in Evans v Barclays & Ors1 overturned a decision of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), allowing a follow-on damages claim against various international banks to proceed on an...more
To bring a collective competition action in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”), a proposed class representative first has to have their claim certified by the CAT. The CAT’s approach to certification is therefore an...more
In the run-up to the TLS in-person event (The Future of EU & UK Competition Regulation), there was heightened chatter about the long-anticipated yet unreleased Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers (DMCC) Bill. A mere...more
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has handed down a judgment determining several preliminary issues in the £17 billion collective action brought against Mastercard in relation to anti-competitive multilateral interchange fees,...more
On 8 August 2022, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) unanimously set aside a £17.9 million fine imposed on the Compare The Market website (CTM) by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CAT held that the CMA...more
The CAT is willing to consider strike-out seriously at the certification stage. The CAT considered striking out the claims of its own motion, and warned the proposed class representatives that they should consider...more
On April 20, 2022, the U.K. government announced amendments to the U.K. competition and consumer law regimes....more
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Facebook £50.5 million for breaching an order to hold separate its acquisition target, Giphy, pending the CMA’s review of the merger....more
After protracted challenges to class certification status, in Merricks v Mastercard the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) granted its first collective proceedings order (CPO). The claim remains huge, comprising 46.2...more
Key Takeaways - The United Kingdom’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) recently granted the U.K.’s first ever Collective Proceeding Order (CPO), on an “opt-out” basis, in Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated &...more
In a move aimed at driving growth and delivering competitive markets that work for consumers, the UK government has published two consultations on proposals for reform of the UK competition and consumer rules. ...more
In what could herald the most significant changes to the UK competition regime in 25 years, the UK Government has announced a series of proposed reforms to UK competition law enforcement. The stated aims of the reforms are...more
The U.K. government is consulting on far-reaching reforms to U.K. competition and consumer laws, which would substantially expand the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and reduce procedural protections....more
The UK government introduced into Parliament a wholesale change to its State aid rules under the new Subsidy Control Bill on 30 June 2021 (the “Bill”). The regime, which is set to come into effect in H1 2022, subject to...more
Check Merger Control Filing Obligations Worldwide: Austria Fines Facebook - The scope and complexity of merger control filing requirements worldwide continue to increase. It is essential to carry out a full review for any...more