The FCO published new fining guidelines on June 25, 2013, which have been applied for several months now. However, the guidelines as well as the recent practice do not provide a lot of guidance. The previous fining guidelines followed a similar methodology as those of the European Commission: the FCO first determined a base amount…
Much ink has been spilt following 2 Travel v. Cardiff Bus[1]2 Travel Group PLC (in liquidation) v Cardiff City Transport Services Limited (2012) CAT 1. and Albion Water v. Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig[2]Albion Water Ltd. v Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig (2013) CAT 6. on the subject of competition litigation in Europe. An axiom with varying justification is that…
Private competition litigation is continuing to develop in the United Kingdom. The courts and the Competition Appeal Tribunal are seeing an increase in the number and complexity of follow-on damages actions, often between foreign claimants and/or defendants. In addition, an increasing number of “standalone” competition disputes between private parties are being brought in the courts,…
1. Introduction The growing popularity of credit and other payment cards among consumers has been accompanied by an increase in the regulatory and legal scrutiny of the terms governing the availability and use of these cards. One focus of concern has been on whether “interchange fees” are set and administered by operators of card networks…
Note: On October 31, 2013, Canada’s Supreme Court issued important decisions regarding the scope of private claims for civil damages under the Competition Act. Below is a note prepared by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg on these decisions. ***************************************** In its first decisions in over 20 years addressing private competition law claims, and its first…
Recently, there have been two striking cases of organisations behaving badly in a way that the outside world would think was well out of order. In the first example – the Roma Medical Aids case – it isn’t just about somebody breaking the rules. It’s about a company acting in a way that a half-decent…
On 8 October 2013, it was announced that the nuclear industry would not be included in the European Commission’s draft Guidelines on environmental and energy aid for 2014-2020 as anticipated. Earlier in the year, a leaked copy of the draft Guidelines (which the author has read) set out six pages on how the Commission would…
In competition investigations, competition authorities receive substantial amounts of confidential business information, some of which will be commercially very sensitive. This information may be used in economic modelling or otherwise be used by the authority to identify anti-competitive conduct, effects or market structures. Some information may be exculpatory. In a recent judgment (BMI Healthcare and…
On 9 August 2013, the OFT issued draft commitments in the Hotel Online Booking investigation. The OFT has investigated the relevant markets for over 2 years and has provisionally found that certain hotels were restricting the ability of their distributors to offer consumers discounts on standard rates for hotel rooms. The case raises interesting questions…
The Canadian Competition Act prohibits various types of anti-competitive agreements between competitors. For example, it is a criminal offence for competitors to fix prices, allocate markets, and/or restrict output. Civil proceedings can also be brought against competitors who enter into any other type of agreement that has the effect of substantially preventing or lessening competition….
