Antitrust

Antitrust refers to a field of economic policy and laws dealing with monopoly and monopolistic practices. Antitrust law or antitrust policy are terms primarily used in the United States, while in many other countries the terms competition law or policy are used. Some countries have utilized the phrases Fair

Trading or Antimonopoly law. The intellectual basis for antitrust economics or policy is the sub-field of industrial organization economics which addresses issues arising from the behaviour of firms operating under different market structure conditions and the effect this has on economic performance. Most antitrust or competition laws have provisions dealing with structure such as mergers, monopoly, dominant market position and concentration, as well as behaviour, such as collusion, price fixing, and predatory pricing.

Source: OECD

Abuse of dominance, Antitrust, Cartels, Competition, Dominance, Enforcement, Investigations, Leniency, Poland, Policy

(WKB Wierciński, Kwieciński, Baehr, Poland)/ /Leave a comment

Let me get this straight from the beginning. I am not a big fan of the trend among the competition authorities to introduce whistleblowing programs. For me this seems to be rather a sign of weakness and not of strength. If other available tools (and especially the leniency program) worked well there would probably be…

Antitrust

(Bristows LLP)/ /Leave a comment

It is becoming increasingly common for companies to set prices for their products automatically using algorithms. One recent study found evidence of more than 500 sellers using algorithmic pricing on Amazon marketplace (see here). The Commission’s Preliminary Report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry also reported use of automatic price adjustments (see paragraph 552). There are…

Antitrust, European Court of Justice, European Union

(Sidley Austin LLP)/ /1 Comment

Hurtling 175 meters below the Franco-Swiss border at near light speed are compact beams of particles, guided by superconducting electromagnets cooled to a temperature colder than outer space itself. At the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, physicists are searching for an elusive but all-embracing theory to unite quantum mechanics and general…

Antitrust, Brexit, Cartels, European Union, Mergers, United Kingdom

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /2 Comments

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…

Antitrust, Germany

(Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

Will Germany establish a “Digital Agency” to monitor compliance with competition law rules in digital markets? Will a German “Digital Antitrust Enforcer” become a role model for a European protectionist approach against American and Asian platform providers? The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy seems to see a pressing need for regulation in…

Antitrust, Competition, Damages, Germany, Market definition, Mergers

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /1 Comment

Following the Parliament’s approval in early March, the Federal States Council, Germany’s second legislative chamber, has approved the most recent reform to German competition law on March 31, 2017. The new law will enter into force upon publication in the German official journal, presumably end of April/beginning of May. The reform was triggered by the…

Antitrust, Cartels, European Commission

(Baker Botts), , , (Hogan Lovells), and (White & Case, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

The European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has emphasised two important developments for EU antitrust enforcement, which have emerged from technological advancements: The Commission is taking proactive steps to consider whether the increasing reliance on computers to handle business processes and decisions raises competition law issues.  One area of current concern is the use of algorithms, in…

Antitrust, Competition, Investigations, Leniency, United Kingdom

(St Johns Chambers, United Kingdom)/ /Leave a comment

In its recent draft annual plan, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) committed itself “to further step up the pace, scale and impact of our enforcement against anticompetitive or unfair practices.” It therefore intends to increase, to at least six, the number of new civil investigations it undertakes under Chapter I of the Competition Act…

Antitrust, Hong Kong

, (Hogan Lovells)/ /1 Comment

Speaking at a recent conference in Hong Kong, the President of the Hong Kong Competition Tribunal, Mr Justice Godfrey Lam, examined whether parties might seek remedies for anti-competitive acts in Hong Kong based on common law economic torts without relying on follow-on actions under the Competition Ordinance. A follow-on action is a private action for…

Antitrust, Competition, European Commission, European Union, Facebook, Germany, Market definition, Mergers, Whatsapp

(Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

“Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” Introduction This quote from Alfred, Lord Tennyson might – I sincerely hope after recent events – be applicable to life generally in Brussels in 2017. But not so – I fear – in the world of EU merger control. It…