A blog about the intersection of antitrust, foreign investment control, politics, and everything in between
The decreasing number of leniency applications seems to be one of the main concerns of antitrust regulators (and private litigation firms) these days. Many argue that leniency applicants are an easy target for civil damage claims and need to be better protected in order to increase the number of leniency applications. Whilst this debate is … Continue reading Comeback of leniency: More than a first step?
The question of whether to appeal a cartel fine in court is often not an easy one for the companies involved – not least because some courts in Europe even have the power to increase fines. To give companies new “hope” for the future, this post brings together a number of recent court decisions across … Continue reading Regulators got it wrong: Courts reduce fines across Europe
Deal certainty and timing predictability are key issues in every transaction involving private equity investors. So, preparing apostilled versions of registry excerpts for merger control filings in jurisdictions where a-never-heard-of subsidiary of a portfolio company has negligible sales to two de-minimis-customers to get clearance in four months has understandably never evoked cheers by clients. However, … Continue reading Private equity in the spotlight – In the US and beyond?
One or the other company that has been investigated in a cartel case may know the feeling: In more or less informal discussions with the authority, one is overcome by the impression of not being fully informed about the status of the investigation, while other affected companies could have received more information. Whilst this is … Continue reading Right to equal treatment in cartel cases…or not?
When conducting antitrust compliance trainings or otherwise advising businesses on antitrust compliance, now and then one hears “but the customers want it that way” as a justification for conduct that could raise antitrust issues. A typical response might begin with “That is appreciated, but unfortunately antitrust law is not at the disposal of the customer…” … Continue reading Antitrust is not at the disposal of the customer – a ground-breaking case
A bit overshadowed by other big legislative processes (we know what we are talking about), the Commission has also been actively updating its notices currently not so much in the focus of the public eye. Having made some progress on the simplified procedure in merger control cases already, the Commission recently presented an updated draft … Continue reading Novel or unresolved – The Commission’s draft informal guidance notice
Big tech, sports, labour markets and authorities' rediscovered delight in unannounced inspections – the week has been full of news regarding antitrust’s most trending topics. As we blogged about most of them before (or wrote about them somewhere else), we could not decide which of them drew most of our attention. So, we opted to … Continue reading Tech, sports and…Greece – A week full of news
There has been quite some talk lately about how the European Commission and national regulators will deal with their respective competences once the Digital Market Act has been set into force. In merger control, referrals in both directions are well established with some very crucial legal and political questions currently in the spotlight. An opportunity … Continue reading Take it or leave it: Referrals in the EU
While cooperations between competing undertakings stay under heavy scrutiny, there seems to be a trend of regulators cooperating cross-border. Those cooperations often concern (a growing number of) topics that are perceived to be wider than national, and that regulators might think can only be properly tackled together. Here is a rundown of fora which have … Continue reading Cross-border cooperation of regulators – a trend for many topics
January was quite a month for the video gaming industry with three blockbuster deals. Many commentators have tried to predict potential antitrust issues and highlighted the anticipated interest of antitrust regulators in these cases worldwide. In this post, we provide an overview of recent developments and the relevant markets. The new year started with a … Continue reading Billion-dollar baby: Playing video games
Antitrustpolitics.com 