Features

After six years as head of the Norwegian Competition Authority, Lars Sørgard will step down on 19 January and return to his role as a professor of economics at the Norwegian School of Economics. Sørgard spoke to GCR about the authority’s accomplishments during his tenure and addressed criticism about the agency's enforcement priorities and political interference.

11 January 2022

Isolde Goggin retired as president of Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on 4 October. She spoke to GCR about the difficulties of operating as an enforcer without an effective sanctions regime, the likelihood of her agency restructuring following the transposition of the ECN+ directive and why she thinks the country’s courts must take a firmer stance when punishing competition infringements.

11 October 2021

Alejandra Palacios Prieto stepped down as head of Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission last week after eight years at the helm. In a wide ranging interview with GCR, she spoke about controversial proposals by lawmakers to merge the agency into a super regulator, the importance of challenging problematic government regulations, why she thinks revolving door caps are unconstitutional, and the need to reform domestic competition rules to tackle digital market concerns.

15 September 2021

ValueLicensing, a UK-based reseller of pre-owned Microsoft software, filed a standalone claim in the High Court of England and Wales in April seeking upwards of £270 million in damages from Microsoft. The latter responded last month by challenging ValueLicensing’s jurisdiction to bring its case and by filing a motion to strike out the claim, with the court scheduling a hearing for March 2022. Charley Connor spoke to Jonathan Horley, the start-up’s founder and managing director, about what drove him to file the claim and how he believes Microsoft has used anticompetitive contractual clauses and discounts to stop its business customers from reselling licences to use its desktop software.

19 August 2021

Ricardo Riesco became head of Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor in December 2018, after taking the reins from long-time chair Felipe Irarrázabal, who led the agency since April 2010. Riesco spoke to GCR about proposed new cartel penalties, navigating enforcement through the global pandemic and the authority’s plans for tackling harm in digital markets.

06 August 2021

India’s competition authority issued an interim order against booking platform MakeMyTrip in early March, forcing it to immediately relist two budget hotel chains it removed as part of an alleged anticompetitive agreement with one of their rivals. Ahead of a keenly anticipated final decision, Khaitan & Co partner Anisha Chand and principal associate Swati Bala examine the implications of that rarely used interim order and how the case will affect the assessment of relevant markets, market power and market access in the digital economy.

04 June 2021

Kazuyuki Furuya took over as chair of Japan’s Fair Trade Commission in September 2020. He spoke to GCR about the agency’s focus on digital platforms, its review of Google’s acquisition of Fitbit despite the deal falling below reporting thresholds and the importance of international cooperation in tackling modern antitrust problems.

24 May 2021

In an exclusive commentary for GCR, John Penrose MP discusses his review of the UK’s competition regime and explains why his report published today recommends that the country’s antitrust authority take on a bigger public role.

16 February 2021

Christopher Vajda QC stepped down from his role as a judge at the European Court of Justice following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020. He returned to Monckton Chambers in October, where he began his legal career. Janith Aranze spoke to Vajda about streamlining the General Court’s procedures, the UK’s approach to digital markets and whether further guidance is needed at an EU-level on competition-related SEP matters.

29 January 2021

Lawmakers in Germany have passed far-reaching reforms to the nation’s competition laws, which give its antitrust enforcer sweeping new powers to challenge the behaviour of the major digital platforms. Janith Aranze and Emily Craig spoke to local competition lawyers about the significance and severity of the new law and how it will interact with proposed EU rules for regulating digital gatekeepers.

22 January 2021