COMPETITION - Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11929 - MET / Mega)... Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11828 - BNPP / Axa IM)...more
The Draghi Report proposes substantial reform in the area of competition law, notably offering a critical assessment of recent policies implemented by the European Commission in merger control and antitrust enforcement. The...more
Put down the lemonade and break out the pumpkin spice: summer is coming to an end. And while you were in the pool – or maybe just answering emails poolside – the antitrust agencies showed no signs of a summer slowdown. Before...more
The Court of Justice of the EU (the Court) has overturned the General Court’s judgment in Illumina/Grail, effectively putting an end to the EC’s revised Article 22 policy approach for below-threshold mergers. Under this...more
IN THIS FEBRUARY 2024 ISSUE - UNITED STATES - New Merger Guidelines Released - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) issued their updated Merger Guidelines on...more
European Commission adopts the final version of the much-anticipated Research & Development Block Exemption Regulation and Specialisation Block Exemption Regulation, as well as the Horizontal Guidelines....more
Advocate General Anthony Michael Collins has proposed that the European Court of Justice uphold the General Court's Altice judgment. In his Opinion, he considered that the entering into certain types of pre-closing covenants...more
The European Union’s top court recently confirmed that an M&A transaction that does not require mandatory pre-merger authorization may be investigated post-merger on suspicion that the transaction involved an ‘abuse’ of the...more
On 16 March 2023, the ECJ published its judgment in Towercast (C-449/21), confirming that Article 102 TFEU (which prohibits abuses of a dominant market position) may apply to transactions which fall below national and EU...more
The long-awaited European Court of Justice's judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national...more
In July 2022, the EC received from the GC in Illumina/Grail an important endorsement of its recent change in the Article 22 referral policy....more
In our super-connected age, we are inundated with information. It can be difficult to select what is really relevant to one’s business. The purpose of this Review is to provide legal counsel and their teams easy...more
The DMA has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on 1 November 2022. The DMA aims to address concerns regarding "contestability" and "fairness" in the digital economy and...more
ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION - The European Commission Reviews Its Informal Guidance Notice - On 24 May 2022, the European Commission (Commission) launched a public consultation to gather feedback from interested parties on the...more
How will European Competition Enforcers Respond? The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented challenge to the economy and competition enforcement is no exception. Authorities at EU and national level may need to...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly around the world, and countries take unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the disease, businesses are increasingly struggling with the economic impact of this crisis. While...more
McDermott’s Annual European Competition Review summarizes key developments in European competition rules. During the previous year, several new regulations, notices and guidelines were issued by the European Commission. There...more
As the UK departs the European Union, the CMA – the UK competition regulator – is facing a transformation in its mandate. White & Case considers how the CMA will approach its workload during and after the Transition Period...more
On 16 January 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU" or "Court") dismissed the European Commission's appeal against the annulment of its decision to prohibit the acquisition of TNT by UPS. The CJEU stressed...more
Lights Back On: Territorial Limits in EU Cartel Damages Claims - The Court of Appeal has ruled that iiyama's 1bn EUR cartel damages claims, against the participants of the cathode ray tube ("CRT") market and liquid...more
Is this perception well-founded? And does it represent a new policy trend towards ‘social justice’ objectives or simply a continuation of a policy driver that has underpinned EU competition enforcement for some time?...more
EU and US laws prohibit merging companies from implementing reportable transactions until their deal is cleared or the statutory waiting period has expired. Violations of this principle are colloquially known as “gun-jumping”...more
3 October - The Prudential Regulator Authority (PRA) published a policy statement on strengthening accountability in banking and changes to senior managers regime (SMR) forms. The changes to the SMR forms will become live on...more
On 6 July 2017, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced it had opened three investigations against companies which have allegedly breached the European Union (“EU”) merger procedural rules. Two of the cases...more