Enforcement

Enforcement, India

(West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences)/ /1 Comment

Indian sectoral regulators were vested with competition-related powers on account of an economic wisdom which favoured regulation, which has started to lose its relevance since the development of the competition law regime. Despite this, the Indian courts have resolved the issue of jurisdictional duplicity by excluding the competition authority, instead of the sectoral regulators. This…

Austria, Enforcement, Germany, Mergers

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Enforcement, Hong Kong

(Hogan Lovells, China)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Antitrust, Competition, Enforcement, Germany, Sector inquiries

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

The Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) announced on February 1, 2018, to launch a sector inquiry into online advertising (here). This in line with the FCO’s focus on competitive conditions in the digital economy and big data. The FCO follows the French competition authority that started a separate online advertising sector inquiry in 2016 and has…

Abuse of dominance, Competition, Dominance, Enforcement, Facebook, Germany

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

On December 19, 2017, the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published a press release on its preliminary assessment in the ongoing Facebook dominance probe, accompanied by a background paper (available in English here). The FCO considers that Facebook abuses its dominant position through imposing unfair general terms and conditions (“t&cs”). The published materials provide some interesting…

Enforcement, Europe, Pricing

, (Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment

In the European Union, Big Pharma has been operating with a target on its back for the best part of the last decade. Eight years after the conclusion of the 2008 pharmaceutical sector inquiry, it is clear that the Commission has largely been true to its stated enforcement priorities. However, the recent announcement of an…

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, Competition, Enforcement, Germany

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

The German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) terminated antitrust proceedings against toy manufacturer Lego on July 18, 2016, following Lego’s agreement to change its current rebate system. Lego will enable online retailers to obtain in practice the same amount of discounts as available for brick and mortar shops. The FCO had opened proceedings against Lego based…

Cartels, Dominance, Enforcement, Investigations, United Kingdom

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

In all competition investigations, it is inevitable that the parties under investigation, and often also third parties, will receive numerous information requests and demands to produce documents and provide information. Such requests may be either formal or informal in nature. These are often burdensome, requiring the provision of substantial information and documentation in a short…

Enforcement, European Commission

(College of Europe, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

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…