Antitrust Today Blog

Microsoft No Longer Has An X On The Back Of Its Box For Antitrust Enforcers

By Jean Kim The European Commission (the “EC”), as expected, has approved Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Nokia’s handset devices business, demonstrating that antitrust enforcers no longer view the operating system Goliath of the 1990s as a tempting target. The European approval was the last remaining regulatory hurdle for the parties to go forward with the $7.2 billion acquisition.  The FTC granted...

Europeans Evolving Toward More Plaintiff-Friendly Private Damages Action Rules

 A View from Constantine Cannon’s London Office By James Ashe-Taylor and Julia Schaefer The governing institutions of the European Union are moving ahead with proposals that could enable consumers and businesses victimized by antitrust violations to have a better chance at recovering damages from cartel members. Earlier this week, ministers from all 28 member states of the EU agreed at a meeting of the...

Whistle-Blowing Banks Escape Record Fines EU Imposes In Rate-Fixing Investigation

By Gary J. Malone The record fines imposed by the European Union today as part of its settlement with eight global financial institutions for fixing benchmark interest rates highlight both the risks of collusion and the rewards of coming clean. Although the EU fined the group of financial institutions a record total of 1.7 billion euros (about $2.3 billion), two of the participants in the cartels—UBS and...

Cargo Shipping Companies’ Price Signaling Could Run Aground In EU Probe

By Jeffrey I. Shinder The steady stream of cartel investigations and lawsuits on both sides of the Atlantic in recent months highlights the need for vigilant antitrust enforcement to protect consumer welfare, despite the views of those, like the Wall Street Journal editorial page, who question the wisdom of antitrust law. These alleged cartels range from the apparently venal manipulations of the financial...

DOJ Allows American Airlines-US Airways Merger To Leave The Gate, But Will The Judge Clear It For Takeoff?

By Jeffrey I. Shinder and Ankur Kapoor

On November 20, 2013, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly set the stage for judicial review of the settlement that the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has reached to resolve its challenge of the proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways.

The court’s order sets the schedule for the Tunney Act procedure, which is the congressionally mandated judicial...

NCAA Athletes Score On Injunctive Class Certification As Court Blocks Damage Claims

Former and current student athletes have achieved a major goal in their class action challenging National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) rules permitting the use of their likenesses without compensation, convincing the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to certify a class for their claims for injunctive relief. The NCAA also scored in In re: NCAA Student-Athlete Name &...

All In All, Illinois Brick Won’t Be Another Brick In The Wall Against Indirect Purchaser Suits In Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to import the U.S. bar to antitrust damage suits by indirect purchasers, rejecting the rule adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 720 (1977). In three antitrust cases, the Canadian Supreme Court held that indirect purchasers could bring class actions seeking damages sustained as a result of overcharges passed on...

Eleventh Circuit Shoots Down Second Antitrust Bid By Atlanticus

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a novel antitrust counterclaim brought by Atlanticus Holdings Corp. against a group of hedge funds, holding that the doctrine of res judicata bars Atlanticus’s attempt to relitigate the issue. The plaintiffs in Akanthos Capital Mangement et al. v. Atlanticus Holdings Corp. are 21 hedge funds, including Akanthos Capital Management...

San Jose Gets Beaned By Baseball Antitrust Exemption In Case Against Major League Baseball

The City of San Jose may have gotten beaned by a ruling that its federal and state antitrust claims against Major League Baseball (“MLB”) should be dismissed under baseball’s nearly century-old antitrust exemption, but it still gets to dust itself off and proceed to first base on its contract interference claims. San Jose is alleging in City of San Jose et al. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball et al....

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PROPOSES TO REGULATE INTERCHANGE FEES

On 24 July 2013, the European Commission adopted a package of proposed legislative measures to improve the current payment services framework. Alongside a new Payment Services Directive (PSD), the package includes a proposal for a Regulation on interchange fees. Interchange fees are fees paid by a merchant’s bank (the acquiring bank) to the cardholder’s bank (the issuing bank) for card-based payment...