Sky-Fox deal not in public interest, says regulator – BBC News

Posted January 23rd, 2018 in competition, media, mergers, news, public interest by sally

‘Fox’s proposed takeover of Sky is not in the public interest on grounds of media plurality, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said.’

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BBC News, 23rd January 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tribunal unimpressed by Mastercard’s “wholly unreasonable” costs in Merricks case – Litigation Futures

Posted January 4th, 2018 in appeals, class actions, competition, consumer credit, costs, news, tribunals by sally

‘The costs incurred by Mastercard in defending an attempt to bring one of the largest class actions ever appear “wholly unreasonable and disproportionate”, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has found.’

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Litigation Futures, 2nd January 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

MoJ formally rules out review of legal regulation and complete independence for regulators – Legal Futures

‘The current framework of legal regulation is “inconsistent”, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) accepted today, but said it could not commit to the formal review sought by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and others.’

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Legal Futures, 19th December 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Improving UK Competitiveness, Strengthening the Rule of Law – Ministry of Justice

‘Dominic Raab addressed guests at the Policy Exchange in London for the launch of the Linklaters report ‘The Rule of Law: everyone has a part to play’.’

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Ministry of Justice, 7th December 2017

Source: www.gov.uk

Brexit through the Gift Shop? Are we about to give away our competition law claims? – Blackstone Chambers

Posted December 8th, 2017 in bills, brexit, competition, EC law, news, treaties by sally

‘Recent press reports have suggested that competition lawyers in other Member States have been confidently predicting the death of cartel claims in the UK following Brexit. But reports of the demise of this species of litigation are premature. The European Communities Act 1972 (the ECA 1972) will be repealed following the entry into force of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (the Bill). But this is unlikely to have any significant impact on the ability of claimants to bring claims before UK courts for damages caused by infringement of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) – at least for quite some time. The reason for this is the provisions of the Bill that protect rights that have accrued prior to “exit day”.’

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Blackstone Chambers, 4th December 2017

Source: www.blackstonechambers.com

New Acts – legislation.gov.uk

Posted December 8th, 2017 in competition, EC law, international law, legislation, treaties by sally

European Union (Approvals) Act 2017

Competition watchdog delays initial verdict on 21st Century Fox’s Sky deal – The Guardian

Posted December 7th, 2017 in competition, delay, media, news by sally

‘The UK competition watchdog has delayed by a month its provisional decision on 21st Century Fox’s £11.7bn proposed deal to take full control of Sky in order to allow sufficient time to consider the thousands of submissions it has received.’

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The Guardian, 6th December 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Competition regulator to prioritise productivity growth in future work – OUT-LAW.com

Posted December 7th, 2017 in competition, employment, news, reports by sally

‘The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will prioritise “cases in markets which underpin and enable economic growth” as part of its programme of work for next year, it has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 6th December 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Market dynamics in the counterfactual: more competitive, not just cheaper – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted December 6th, 2017 in competition, consumer credit, damages, fees, news by sally

‘The judgment of Phillips J in Sainsbury’s v Visa [2017] EWHC 3047 (Comm) demonstrates the importance to claimants in competition damages cases of identifying a counterfactual which not only involves lower prices but also involves higher levels of competition.’

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Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 5th December 2017

Source: competitionbulletin.com

Ticket resale sites could face court over consumer law concerns – The Guardian

Posted November 29th, 2017 in competition, consumer protection, internet, news by sally

‘Secondary ticketing firms could be fined or taken to court after a year-long investigation by the UK competition regulator uncovered “widespread concerns” about breaches of consumer law.’

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The Guardian, 28th November 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

City watchdog swoops on £68bn insurance broking market – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 9th, 2017 in competition, financial regulation, insurance, news by tracey

‘The City watchdog has turned its attention towards London’s £68bn insurance broking market following “significant changes” to the lucrative sector since its last probe a decade ago.’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th November 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Competition watchdog probes high-pressure tactics of hotel booking sites – The Guardian

Posted October 27th, 2017 in competition, consumer protection, hotels, internet, news by sally

‘Britain’s competition watchdog is to investigate hotel booking sites over concerns that consumers are being misled, pressured, and prevented from finding the best deals.’

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The Guardian, 27th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Unintentionally wide non-compete clause: A warning from the Court of Appeal in Egon Zehnder Ltd v Tillman – Cloisters

Posted October 20th, 2017 in company law, competition, covenants, interpretation, news by sally

‘Having previously blogged on this case (see here for that blog on Egon Zehnder Ltd v Tillman [2017] EWHC 1278 (Ch)), Jacques Algazy QC and Nathaniel Caiden consider the repercussions of the Court of Appeal judgment in Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1054.’

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Cloisters, 12th October 2017

Source: www.cloisters.com

FRAND – NIPC Law

Posted October 9th, 2017 in competition, EC law, inventions, licensing, news, patents, public interest, standards by sally

‘FRAND stands for “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory”. It refers to the terms upon which the owner of a patent for an invention that is essential to a standard (“standard essential patent” or “SEP”) should license its use.’

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NIPC Law, 8th October 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Competition Appeal Tribunal decision to refuse biggest-ever class action “not susceptible to appeal” – Litigation Futures

Posted October 5th, 2017 in appeals, class actions, competition, consumer credit, news, tribunals by tracey

‘The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has refused solicitor Walter Merricks permission to appeal its decision to deny him a collective proceedings order (CPO) that would allow him bring a £14bn action against Mastercard on behalf of 46m people.’

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Litigation Futures, 4th October 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Ofcom chief defends decision to cap spectrum auction – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 4th, 2017 in competition, news, telecommunications by sally

‘Ofcom chief executive Sharon White has defended the telecoms regulator’s decision to put a limit on the amount of mobile spectrum an operator can control, after legal action was launched by two companies.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 3rd October 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

BSB proposes targeted approach to CMA disclosure recommendations: focuses on consumers who would benefit most – Bar Standards Board

Posted October 3rd, 2017 in barristers, competition, consultations, consumer protection, fees, news by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a new consultation outlining its proposed response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommendations for more transparency about legal service providers’ fees, services and rights of redress for consumers.’

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Bar Standards Board, 2nd October 2017

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Top QCs set to escape price publishing regime – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 3rd, 2017 in barristers, competition, fees, news, publishing, queen's counsel by sally

‘QCs instructed in major cases would be exempt from publishing prices under plans set out by the Bar Standards Board today, though the regulator has recommended that the new rules go further than originally proposed by the competition watchdog.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 2nd October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Legal brains will have a week to defeat AI in lawyer v machine challenge – Legal Futures

Posted October 3rd, 2017 in artificial intelligence, competition, legal profession, news by sally

‘More than 50 solicitors, barristers and in-house counsel have volunteered to outsmart predictive software based on artificial intelligence in a ground-breaking lawyer v machine challenge.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Revealed: BSB set to expand price transparency obligation beyond public access to referral Bar – Legal Futures

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) will say today that new rules on publishing prices should extend to referral barristers as well as those handling public access work.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk