GCR Live
Mundt: German merger regime may need rebalancing
08 November 2018
Germany may need to “reinvent the wheel” to reduce the number of merger filings its competition authority receives and to give it the power to review deals that fall below current merger thresholds, the head of its antitrust authority has said.
Antitrust tools are being stretched in digital markets, economist says
01 November 2018
Although antitrust enforcers insist that they have the legal tools and powers to address potential anticompetitive harms in the digital economy, they appear to sometimes overreach, an adviser to Google has said.
China regulator approached Luxottica/Essilor with caution, says Linklaters partner
01 November 2018
A Linklaters partner has said China’s decision to impose remedies on the merger of lens manufacturer Luxottica and eyewear company Essilor was partly due to third-party pressure on a new antitrust agency, despite the US and EU unconditionally clearing the deal earlier this year.
Populism is “stretching” antitrust law, says Majoras
31 October 2018
A former head of the US Federal Trade Commission has said that the recent rise of populism in the US could be responsible for the increased political attention to antitrust and the desire to move away from the consumer welfare standard.
Wilson insists US FTC is open to alternative standards
30 October 2018
The newest member of the US Federal Trade Commission has said the agency is listening to criticism about how it enforces antitrust law, while reiterating her previous scepticism about certain behavioural remedies.
Data can impede cartel prosecutions, Israeli enforcer says
30 October 2018
The increasing need to master vast swathes of data when prosecuting cartels poses a huge obstacle and challenge to digital era enforcement, the head of Israel’s Antitrust Authority has warned.
CADE looks to prevent clashes between antitrust and foreign trade enforcement
30 October 2018
A commissioner at Brazil's competition authority has revealed that the agency will become a member of the country's foreign trade chamber in a push to prevent conflicts with antitrust enforcement.
Long-term remedies can indicate inadequate enforcement, CMA head says
24 October 2018
Behavioural remedies that continue long after the approval of a vertical merger are evidence that the deal “probably shouldn’t have been allowed in the first place,” the head of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has said.
France to publish merger regime recommendations in “next few weeks”
23 October 2018
The head of France’s antitrust enforcer has reiterated concerns about the use of deal value merger notification thresholds, but stopped short of confirming her agency’s support for an ex post assessment model instead.
State aid official: we need right toolkit to define selectivity principle
12 October 2018
The European Court of Justice’s recent Heitkamp Bauholding ruling shows the importance the courts attach to the selectivity principle in state aid – but the European Commission lacks “the right toolkit” to define the correct reference system in such cases, a commission official has said.