The Antitrust Week In Review
Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.
German govt adviser proposes broader view of EU antitrust rules. European Union antitrust rules could be reformed to introduce a two-stage review of mergers that would examine competition issues and then broader public interests, said the head of a German commission tasked with coming up with reforms proposals. Germany and France want to overhaul EU mergers rules following the European Commission’s veto of efforts by Siemens and Alstom to create a European rail champion to compete with larger foreign rivals. Achim Wambach, who heads the German commission charged with presenting reform proposals, said a two-stage review of mergers could first look at competition issues and then at broader public interests – such as security issues and the impact on consumers.
U.S. settles with Learfield IMG College on antitrust allegations. The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it had settled with Learfield IMG College, a unit of Learfield Communications, over allegations it had agreed with smaller rivals to refrain from competing against one another. The unit, formed by a merger of Learfield and IMG College, which closed in December, had been accused of failing to compete in seeking to represent colleges in selling advertising and sponsorship opportunities for companies that want to reach fans at sports events. “IMG and Learfield have agreed or otherwise coordinated to limit competition between one another and between themselves and smaller competitors,” the Justice Department said in a court filing on Thursday.
Democratic senators urge administration to reject Sprint, T-Mobile merger. A group of eight Democratic U.S. senators and independent Senator Bernie Sanders urged the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday to reject a proposed $26 billion merger of T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp. The merger is “likely to raise prices for consumers, harm workers, stifle competition, exacerbate the digital divide, and undermine innovation,” they wrote in separate letters to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department’s top antitrust official. The signatories included potential or confirmed presidential candidates Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. Also signing the letters were Senators Richard Blumenthal and Tom Udall.
Britain’s RBS one of eight banks in EU bond cartel probe – Bloomberg. Royal Bank of Scotland is one of eight banks being probed by European authorities for its possible role in a euro bond trading cartel, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing a source. The European Commission said in January it was investigating the unidentified banks for a scheme that distorted sovereign bond trading markets from 2007 to 2012. The Commission’s powerful antitrust arm said some traders at the eight banks exchanged commercially sensitive information and coordinated trading strategies on euro-denominated bonds, mainly through online chatrooms.