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…

The Senate has approved with minor amendments the Antitrust Bill (the “Bill”) that had been approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate introduced minor amendments to a few articles of the Bill, though none of them are substantial. The amended Bill will now be considered by the Chamber of Deputies and approval is likely…

On 19 April 2018, the Court of Justice (CJEU) issued an important ruling in the MEO case on the interpretation of Article 102(c) TFEU.[1] Article 102 prohibits, as incompatible with the EU’s internal market, any abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position in so far as it may affect trade between Member…

After initiating sector inquiries on the banking and energy markets in the country the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (the Commission) will investigate one more sector following a request from the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Culture to examine the competitive environment of the media market in Bulgaria….

The UAE Competition Committee held its first meeting of the year last month (on 26 March 2018) in which it discussed the development of guidelines and standards related to the implementation of UAE competition rules, including the UAE merger control regime.[1] The UAE Competition Committee also recently joined the International Competition Network (ICN) and is…

On April 11, 2018, the European Commission published a proposed new EU law as part of a package of consumer protection measures. The proposed new law would introduce the first Europe-wide consumer class action system, exposing companies in a broad range of industries to new risks with potentially huge financial implications. The proposed new law…

On 13.03.2018 the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) published a decision finding that the Bulgarian National Television (“BNT”) and Nurts Digital EAD – a company operating in the sector of construction of networks and facilities in the TMT sector (“Nurts”) did not commit a breach of competition law. The BCPC was seized upon…

Competition law (especially merger control regime) is a relatively new area of law in India, and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been tasked with the duty of its enforcement in India. Similar to most other jurisdictions, the merger control regime in India is suspensory in nature, i.e. the parties to a combination (transactions…

The ability of merging parties to properly participate in the merger review process is premised on the freedom to exchange information and discuss strategies necessary to obtain clearance (subject to all the requisite protections against gun-jumping of course). This freedom to share and exchange information and views is based on the understanding that such communications…

In February 2018, the Federal Competition Authority (Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde – “BWB”) introduced an electronic whistleblowing system, which allows individuals to inform the BWB about (alleged) antitrust infringements on an anonymous basis.  Legal Background By amendments to the Austrian Competition Act (Wettbewerbsgesetz), which entered into force on 1 May 2017, the Austrian legislator authorised the BWB to…