McGuireWoods LLP (JD Supra European Union)

Buyer Beware: Court Confirms Wide Scope of UK Merger Control Jurisdiction - The extremely wide jurisdictional coverage of the UK merger control rules was confirmed in a recent appeal judgment by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) following a decision originally taken by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

UK CMA Disqualifies More Directors for Anti-Competitive Behaviour - Following the director disqualifications reported in the February/March 2021 edition of this newsletter, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) secured the disqualification of two more individuals from acting as company directors. These new disqualifications will last for the longest period of any to date.

On November 20, 2020, the working group on euro risk-free rates (the Euro Working Group) published two consultations on fallback rates to EURIBOR. Market participants were invited to provide their views on the potential events that could trigger fallback measures and the fallback rates based on the euro short-term rate (€STR) and spread adjustment methodologies. The results of the consultations...

On February 13, 2021, the European Union’s (EU) amendments to the Benchmarks Regulation (2016/1011) (the Amended BMR) came into force, which provides a legislative fix for the cessation of LIBOR in legacy contracts. The Amended BMR gives the European Commission (the Commission) the power to replace critical benchmarks and other relevant benchmarks if their termination would significantly disrupt...

“True Brexit” Happened: Impact on Competition Law - After formally leaving the EU early in 2020, the UK on 31 December finally left the EU’s single market and customs union at the end of the transitional period. Despite the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) agreed between the EU and UK in late December, this will impact businesses and individals in a number of ways.

Buyer Beware: UK Foreign Direct Investment Rules Now Much Tougher - The UK will see a dramatic strengthening of its protections against foreign direct investment under proposed rules announced by the government on 11 November 2020.

EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 - While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid (subsidy) and public procurement rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the crisis. So far as the UK is concerned, it is subject to EU law until 31 December 2020 while the post-Brexit transition...

EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 - While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid (subsidy) and public procurement rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the crisis. So far as the UK is concerned, it is subject to EU law until 31 December 2020 while the post-Brexit transition...

EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 - While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid and public procurement rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the crisis.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) contains the much-publicised right of subject access, which gives an individual the right to access a copy of all the personal data a controller holds in relation to him or her.

EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 - While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid and public procurement rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the crisis.

In its long awaited judgment in the Schrems II case, the ECJ has this morning invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield citing the “limitations on the protection of personal data arising from the domestic law of the United States on the access and use by US public authorities” in respect of personal data transferred from the European Union to the United States on the basis that such limitations do not

EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 Pandemic - While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that European Union and national antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid and public procurement rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the crisis. So far as the UK is concerned, it is subject to EU law until at least 31 December 2020

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has announced that it will deliver its judgment in what has become known as the Schrems II case (Case 311/18 Facebook Ireland and Schrems) on 16th July 2020. The judgment will determine the validity of the Standard Contractual Clauses (or Model Clauses) (SCCs) as a transfer mechanism under the GDPR.

EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 - While not the most important concern, EU and national antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid and public procurement rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the crisis.

Public sector bodies of all types in the EU and UK are scrambling to acquire a range of goods, services and infrastructure as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds. Many of these purchases are subject to the public procurement rules, which require tendering of contracts. In the current situation, there is a often mismatch since purchases are needed urgently while the formal tender processes can be slow.

Many EU and UK businesses want or need to cooperate with competitors or potential competitors as part of their response to the COVID-19 crisis. Antitrust/competition law limits companies’ ability to do this, however, so there is understandable concern as to what is currently permitted.

EU, UK Competition Law and State Aid During the COVID-19 Pandemic- While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that EU and national antitrust/competition law, plus the State aid rules, continue to apply in the EU and UK during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. So far as the UK is concerned, it is subject to EU law until at least 31 December 2020 while the post-Brexit...

The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in huge demand for a range of consumer and other products, including face masks, hand sanitizer, paracetamol, bottled oxygen and ventilators. For companies manufacturing or reselling these products, this has provided an opportunity to raise prices. Sometimes increases have been dramatic and put in place overnight.

Hotel Group Meliá Fined for Active and Passive Cross-Border Sales Restrictions in the EU - On 21 February 2020, the European Commission announced a fine of €6.7 million on hotel group Meliá for including restrictive clauses in its agreements with tour operators. The case shows once again that restrictions on cross-border sales in the EU/EEA are seen as serious infringements of competition law.

In a letter to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on 20 January 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed the possibility that LIBOR may continue to be published for a short period after regulators have announced that it is no longer representative of an underlying market (a non-representative LIBOR).

Brexit Has Happened: No Change for Now - The UK left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020. The transition period provided for in the withdrawal agreement between the EU and UK is now in effect and will run, unless extended, until 31 December 2020.

EU’s Highest Court Confirms Wide Scope of Potential Claimants in Private Competition Law Damages Claims - On 12 December 2019, the EU’s highest court, Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), confirmed that an entity not operating as a supplier or customer on the market affected by a cartel finding may still bring a claim for compensation for loss caused by that cartel.

On 27 July 2017, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, Andrew Bailey, announced that the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) may not continue to be available after 2021. Since this announcement, a number of national working groups have been set up, and consultations carried out, to develop and select alternative risk-free rates (RFRs) to replace LIBOR.

Dangers of Cooperation or Coordination on Purchasing - Two recent cases demonstrate the competition law risks which can arise when competitors cooperate or coordinate in relation to purchasing. Competition law compliance programmes must deal with this issue and ensure that the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour is understood.

The EU-US Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield) has passed its third annual review by the European Commission. A framework constructed by the US Department of Commerce and the European Commission to enable transfers of personal data for commercial purposes, the Privacy Shield enables companies from the EU and the US to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the EU

Textbook Long-Term Cartel Fined in the EU - On 27 September 2019, the European Commission announced it had fined two canned vegetable suppliers for participating in a cartel that ran for more than 13 years. Another supplier was not fined since it blew the whistle on the arrangements.

Brexit is (or may be) Coming! More than three years after the EU referendum in the UK (in which 37 percent of the electorate at the time voted “Leave”), it is still unclear whether the UK will leave the EU on 31 October 2019 (the current “Brexit Day”).

European Commission Finds Predatory Pricing of Chipsets - For the first time in 16 years, the European Commission has imposed a fine for what the Commission found was an abuse of dominance by predatory pricing. Any company which trades with or competes against a dominant provider should be aware that an argument of predatory pricing may be available to control its behaviour in the dominated or

BE CAREFUL! PROCEDURAL ISSUES MATTER IN MERGER CONTROL - The analysis of where to file mergers, acquisitions, investments and joint ventures worldwide is more complex than ever. Countries have widely varying jurisdictional regimes and catch a surprising range of transactions.