On March 29, 2016, the Canadian Commissioner of Competition and Parkland Fuel Corp. entered into a consent agreement to resolve the Commissioner’s challenge to Parkland’s acquisition of Pioneer Energy. This marks the first time in a Canadian Competition Tribunal proceeding that a consent agreement has been negotiated through mediation. The consent agreement includes not only…

On March 18, 2016 the new law increasing notification thresholds (former draft law 2168a) was officially published. The law is expected to become effective on May 18, 2016. The current financial thresholds test has been substituted by the two new alternative ones (either A or B): Current financial thresholds to be met cumulatively (1+2+3) Expected…

Summary On 10 March 2016, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down judgments[1]Case C‑247/14 P – HeidelbergCement AG v European Commission; Case C‑248/14 P – Schwenk Zement KG v European Commission; Case C‑267/14 P – Buzzi Unicem SpA v European … Continue reading that provide useful clarification regarding limits on information requests issued by the…

Co-authored by Bill Batchelor & Tom Jenkins, Baker & McKenzie   1.            Summary On 18 March 2016, the European Commission published an initial “Issues paper” on geo-blocking in the EU.  The paper is part of the Commission’s ongoing e-commerce sector inquiry examining whether suppliers impose illegal territorial restrictions on retailers’ online activities. The Issues Paper…

80th Lunch Talk of the Global Competition Law Center Monday, April 4, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM EU Competition Law Enforcement and the Legacy of Ordo-liberalism: Myths and Realities with Christian Ahlborn, Linklaters Pierre Larouche, Tilburg University Vincent Verouden, E.CA Economics Moderator: Damien Gerard, GCLC Programme: 12:00 – 12:30: Sandwich lunch and socializing…

by Anita Banicevic and Mark Katz[1] 2015 saw a number of interesting developments in cartel enforcement in Canada, the most important of which were setbacks suffered by Canada’s competition authorities in two high profile prosecutions. We discuss these and other developments below, following a brief overview of the cartel enforcement regime in Canada. Cartel Enforcement…

Co-authored by Patrick Harrison and Audrey Silvain, Sidley Austin LLP.   There are few distinctions more important in EU competition law than that between the notion of a restriction “by object” – where a regulator need not demonstrate that conduct had anti-competitive effects – and the notion of a restriction “by effect,” where a regulator…

Following over 20 years of deliberations and finally the entry into force of the first cross-sector competition law in the Philippines last summer, the newly established Philippine Competition Commission (“Commission”) has published an interim arrangement to accept simplified merger notifications. Notifications are mandatory for transactions which satisfy the transaction value threshold during the interim period….

The merger control regime in India has been in existence since 2011. The provisions of the Competition Act are to be read together with the notifications issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India and the Combination Regulations. In line with the vision of India on promoting investments into India, the Ministry of…

79th Lunch Talk of the Global Competition Law Center Monday, March 14, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM Assessing unilateral effects in horizontal mergers: closeness of competition and the role of bidding data with Daniel Coublucq, DG COMP Sascha Schubert, Freshfields David Spector, MAPP Economics Moderator: Damien Gerard, GCLC Programme: 12:00 – 12:30: Sandwich…