We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal includes the following contributions: Martin Gassler, Non-Controlling Minority Shareholdings and EU Merger Control Acquisitions of non-controlling minority shareholdings do currently not trigger the mandatory notification obligation of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) Although the Commission can partly apply Articles 101 and…
On May 14, 2018, the German and Austrian competition authorities have published joint draft guidelines on the new transaction value merger thresholds, including an English translation (see here). Comments can be submitted by June 8, 2018. It would certainly be helpful if members of the legal and economic community from jurisdictions with similar transaction size…
Important new developments are reported in the first case under Hong Kong’s cross-sector antitrust statute, the Competition Ordinance (“Ordinance“), in effect since December 2015. The hearing for the case is scheduled in June/July 2018. Under the Ordinance, enforcement action may only be undertaken by the Competition Commission (“HKCC“), and by the Communications Authority in the…
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…
Whistleblowers who expose breaches of European Union law will be afforded greater protection from retaliation by companies and public authorities under a draft law proposed by the European Commission in April 2018. The draft Directive protects those who report violations of competition, public procurement, and data protection rules, as well as misdeeds such as money…
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…
