On 12 July, the UK Government published a White Paper setting out its proposal for a future UK-EU relationship, following Brexit. The type of UK-EU relationship which this envisages is unprecedented, reflecting from the UK’s perspective, the UK’s unique circumstances as a current EU Member State in full regulatory compliance with EU rules, and a…

The new Business and Property Courts of England and Wales (“B&PCs”) became operational on 2 October 2017. As well as London, new BPCs have also been established in seven regional centres. As part of the reforms, the Mercantile Court has been renamed as the ‘Circuit Commercial Court’ and Mercantile Judges are now known as ‘Circuit…

Introduction I recommend reading the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) decision in Flynn/Pfizer vs UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as both lawyers and economists can find a fair number of details to note for later cases related to excessive pricing. In this short article I do not wish to argue whether the CMA’s methodology…

Summary On 7 June 2018, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) held that the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) misapplied the relevant legal test when finding that Pfizer and Flynn Pharma (Flynn) unfairly priced their epilepsy drug. The CAT quashed the record £84.2 million and £5.2 million fines that the CMA imposed on Pfizer…

The Government has given its strongest indication yet that a domestic State aid regulatory regime, substantively similar to the EU State aid regime which applies today, will be in place at the end of the Brexit transitional period, with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) taking on the role of State aid regulator. Preparations to…

In April 2018, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA“) announced that two individuals would be disqualified from acting as directors for 3 and 3.5 years as a result of a company’s infringement of UK domestic competition law, specifically Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (the “Chapter I Prohibition“).[1] This case follows a…

On 2 February 2018, the EU Internal Market Sub-Committee of the House of Lords (“EU Committee”) published its report on the implications of Brexit on competition law and State aid (“Report”)[1].  On antitrust and merger control, the Report concludes that there should continue to be consistency between the UK’s and EU’s approach to competition matters,…

Dispute Resolution This article “fact-checks” the “Notice to Stakeholders” published by the European Commission on November 21, 2017[1] (the “Notice”). The Notice has received widespread press attention, due to its stark warnings about the risks of choosing to litigate in the English Courts post-Brexit. We consider whether the Notice is factually accurate (yes), whether it…

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (“the FCA”) has published the terms of reference for a market study into the wholesale insurance broker market.  Its aim is to understand whether competition works well in that market.  If the FCA identifies concerns, it could refer the sector to the Competition & Markets Authority (“CMA”) for an in-depth…

With her delivery of the UK’s Article 50 notice on March 29, Theresa May has launched the two-year negotiating process leading to the first exit of a Member State from the European Union (EU).  The negotiations will affect virtually every economic and policy area in Europe, including competition policy. These effects will be felt first…