A blog about the intersection of antitrust, foreign investment control, politics, and everything in between
Access to file is undisputedly one of the essential rights of defense in any cartel investigation. Yet, the when and the extent to which access is granted is often controversially disputed between regulators and alleged cartelists. A recent judgment by a German court strengthens the rights of companies and criticises the established practice by the … Continue reading Access to file: Don’t wait until the end
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries and economies worldwide. Antitrust regulators are confronted with the challenge of balancing competitive landscapes while fostering innovation. Recent statements shed light on their evolving stance, as more cases highlight the practical intersection of AI and antitrust law. The intersection of artificial intelligence and antitrust … Continue reading Artificial intelligence and antitrust law: Only the beginning?
It may sound counterintuitive: Striking a deal with a regulator to conclude a cartel investigation, only to later challenge the very same decision in court. The General Court recently had to deal with this situation in relation to the Ethylene cartel and clarified some important aspects of the European settlement procedure. Here is what companies … Continue reading Agree to disagree: Settlement decision challenged in court
Practitioners often criticize the lack of transparency in FDI proceedings in Germany (and elsewhere). The fact that decisions are not made public further adds to that lack of transparency. So, the inaugural meeting of the German “Forum Investitionsprüfung”, which was also attended by many representatives from German ministries, presented a valuable opportunity to gain insights … Continue reading New German FDI association – Learnings from the first annual meeting
At the moment, the European Commission has to deal with a number of phase 2 cases. While the outcome still seems to be open, there are already a few interesting observations which will be important to keep in mind going forward. Here is an overview. Contrary to popular belief, the European Commission remained active … Continue reading State of play: The EC‘s ongoing phase 2 mergers
Summertime is blockbuster time, and some blockbusters are just too good to be missed. Looking at current trends, sequels still seem to be a safe pair of hands. While I cannot comment on the new Indiana Jones or Mission Impossible yet, my (and potentially the rest of the antitrust world’s) jaw(s) dropped when reading about … Continue reading EC showing teeth: Record-breaking fine for Illumina AND Grail
Co-authored by Carolin Goldbeck Those of you who follow this blog closely will remember that we touched upon the Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force, consisting of American and European regulators, in a short paragraph a while ago (here). Back then, we did not see any dramatic changes in the approach of competition authorities to assess mergers … Continue reading Pharma and mergers – future alignment of multinational competition issues?
Game-changing regulations are shaking up the world of football agents. With FIFA's recently approved Football Agent Regulations set to take full effect on 1 October 2023, players, clubs, and agents are bracing themselves for a new era of oversight and transparency. FIFA’s interests and those of the agents seem to be at odds. With first … Continue reading FIFA’s Football Agent Regulations – Next round of antitrust disputes
Antitrust used to be a niche. Known to practitioners and experts, of course. Cases were kept, progressed, and negotiated in that environment. Those times are long gone. We have seen an increasing trend towards companies turning to publicity and PR campaigns as a tool in both merger control and antitrust proceedings. PR work is used … Continue reading PR campaigns in antitrust
As some reports indicate, M&A activities in the coming years could involve more targets in financial distress than in the past years. The most prominent example of that unfortunate ‘trend’ might be UBS’ acquisition of Credit Suisse. In that case, the European Commission granted a derogation from the standstill obligation allowing the parties to move … Continue reading Gun jumping: More freedom for targets in financial distress?
Antitrustpolitics.com 