Australia

Australia, ESG, Sustainability

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In Brief The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) continue to be vigilant and seek significant penalties for alleged “greenwashing” (misleading environmental or sustainability claims). The ACCC has been vocal that greenwashing is an enforcement priority for some time and, in December 2023, issued guidance for businesses in…

Australia, Legislation, Merger Thresholds, Mergers

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In Brief On 10 October 2024, the Australian Government introduced a bill into Parliament for Australia to enact a mandatory and suspensory competition merger clearance regime. The regime will commence on 1 January 2026, although parties can voluntarily seek clearance under the new regime from 1 July 2025. The thresholds for mandatory merger clearance[1] are…

Australia, Brazil, Egypt, European Union, Merger control, Merger notification, Mergers, Ukraine

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Key Highlights The Ukraine War: Merger filing activity in Ukraine was down 61% compared to 2021, but the Ukrainian competition authority throughout 2022 reviewed over 300 mergers and continued to initiate merger investigations. Brazil filing activity rose steeply, up 47% compared to the five-year average for the same period (January – November) and up 6%…

Australia, Competition law, Fines

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In July, we outlined the new Government’s Competition and Consumer Law policy initiatives (click here). The Government has now moved forward with one of these initiatives, publishing for consultation a draft bill and related explanatory materials (click here), seeking very substantial increases to the maximum penalties for breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010…

Australia, Cartels, Criminal enforcement, Criminal sanctions, Disclosure, Leniency

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Legal professional privilege (LPP) has long been recognised as a powerful, though controversial protection. As the Australian High Court once declared, it is “a practical guarantee of fundamental constitutional or human rights”.[1] Yet, despite its well-established jurisprudential position, its utilisation to protect internal cartel investigation records of criminal cartel immunity applicants (IA) from being disclosed…

Australia, Competition Law 2021

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2021 proved to be a significant year for competition and consumer law in Australia. This article outlines a number of the key developments as follows: The trend for record penalties continues (as exemplified by the record $153 million penalty ordered against vocational skills training company AIPE). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) remains an…

Australia, Unfair competition

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The Australian Government has released the Exposure Draft legislation and Explanatory Materials for an anticipated suite of reforms to unfair contract terms (UCT) laws found in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act). Treasury is now considering feedback on the exposure draft with a view to the…

Australia, Competition policy, Enforcement

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Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair, Rod Sims, has announced the ACCC’s 2021 compliance and enforcement policy and priorities. The focus of the ACCC’s 2021 priorities is reflective of its: continuation of its unfinished “to do” list in a COVID-19 interrupted 2020 enduring/ongoing priorities, such as the prosecution of cartel conduct (with two to…

Australia, COVID-19

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The theme of antitrust in crisis is very timely for the current global climate, but more so than ever for Australia where we had already dealt with unprecedented drought, bushfires and now the global COVID-19 pandemic. Not for a century have Governments had to manage a health and economic crisis of such intensity, scale or…

Australia, Resale price maintenance, Vertical restraints

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced proceedings against cycling wholesaler B & K Holdings (QLD) Pty Ltd, trading as FE Sports (FE Sports), alleging that it engaged in resale price maintenance (RPM). The proceedings are a timely reminder of the risks suppliers face if they restrict resellers’ ability to advertise (in addition…