In June 2015, China pushed through a relatively bold liberalization of drug prices, moving from a regime where the government decides the prices or price ranges of the most commonly used drugs to a regime where the prices of most drugs are determined by market forces. Already then, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)…
States have traditionally faced banking crisis through the so-called bail-out tool: public resources have been used for a long time in order to rescue banks, putting the burden on public finance, thus on taxpayers. Actually, this is what still happens in the most part of the world, but not in the European Union (EU). …
In its recent VM Remonts judgment, the Court of Justice of the EU has confirmed the strict liability of companies for the anti-competitive behaviour of their employees, even if the employee was acting contrary to instructions of senior management. The Court also clarified under which conditions a company can be liable for the anti-competitive conduct…
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…
With little fanfare, on Friday, 1 July 2016, among a raft of other amendments to the Act against Restraint of Competition (‘ARC’; 9th amendment), the Federal Ministry of Economics proposed a far reaching change to German merger notification thresholds making it one of the few jurisdictions worldwide that take jurisdiction based on the size of…
In its decision passed on 30 March 2016, the Delhi High Court upheld the order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) directing an investigation into the allegations of abuse of dominance against Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) with respect to its actions as a Standard Essential Patent (SEP) holder. The present decision sets the…
Introduction The Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA), an association of undertakings accounting for 75% the household waste currently managed in Ireland, announced that it is committed “to freezing prices at current rates for twelve month period from 20th June 2016 to 1 July 2017.”[1]IWMA, “IWMA Agrees Measures to Alleviate Consumer Concerns on Pay by Weight,”…
On Friday, 1 July 2016, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs finally published its draft law implementing the European Union directive governing actions for damages for infringements of competition rules (“Damages Directive”). The drafting process by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, which was formally in charge of drafting the law, took place…
A non-compete obligation which is imposed on the seller in the context of a M&A transaction can be permissible when it is ancillary to the transfer of the relevant business, that is, when it is directly related and necessary to the implementation of the deal. In order to enjoy the fruits of the purchase of…
HERE IS AN ARTICLE BY MY COLLEAGUES ANITA BANICEVIC AND JOHN BODRUG ON A RECENT CASE IN WHICH THE CANADIAN AND U.S. AUTHORITIES REACHED DIFFERENT CONCLUSIONS ON A MERGER BECAUSE OF THE COUNTRIES’ DIFFERENT LEGAL STANDARDS On June 28, 2016, Canada’s Competition Bureau announced that it had cleared Superior Plus Corporation’s acquisition of Canexus Corporation…
