Antitrust Enforcement

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...

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...

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...

Feds Streamline Confidentiality Waiver For International Antitrust Investigations

The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) have announced that they are issuing a new joint model waiver of confidentiality designed to facilitate international antitrust investigations. The Antitrust Division and the FTC often ask individuals and companies involved in civil investigations to permit the agencies to share confidential information provided in the...

UK Planning To Strengthen Competition Cops

The government of the United Kingdom is seeking comments on proposals designed to strengthen and streamline the UK’s competition regime. The proposed reforms of British antitrust enforcement are contained in draft legislation that the UK has released for public comment. The proposed measures are among the revisions being contemplated as part of an overhaul of both civil and criminal antitrust enforcement in...

British Competition Regulators Tell Companies To Open Their Arms To New Auditors

The U.K.’s Competition Commission is proposing regulations designed to promote competition among auditors of major companies and to ensure that auditors are satisfying the demands of shareholders. The Competition Commission’s provisional decision seeks to remedy the lack of competition among auditors that serve large British companies.  This problem would be addressed by a requirement that companies open up...

Europeans Rule Reliance On National Courts And Lawyers Not A Bar To EU Antitrust Liability

The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has held that neither a decision from a national antitrust court nor reliance on the advice of counsel protected a company from European Union (“EU”) antitrust liability. The ECJ made its ruling in Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde v. Schenker & Co. and Others, a case dealing with an Austrian freight company that joined 30 other freight companies to form a special interest...

FTC Consent Order Settles Hairy Exchange Of Competitively Sensitive Information

Bosley Inc., the nation’s largest surgical hair restoration company, has agreed to a consent order settling a Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) complaint alleging that the company exchanged competitively sensitive information with Hair Club Inc. before the two companies merged. Bosley, a subsidiary of Aderans Co Ltd., performs hair loss treatments at 22 offices across the United States.  According to the FTC...

UK Eyeing American Class Actions As Model For Strengthening Antitrust Enforcement

The United Kingdom is considering moving closer to the American class action system and several other reforms that would strengthen antitrust enforcement. Under a plan announced by the U.K.'s Department for Business Innovation and Skills (the “BIS”), the U.K. would adopt an opt-out collective action system – similar to the American class action system – in an effort to make it easier for consumers and small...

European Antitrust Enforcers Tell UPS Merger Is Undeliverable

European Union competition regulators have formally blocked a proposed merger between United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and its Dutch competitor TNT Express NV based on potential adverse effects on competition in 15 EU countries. The express delivery companies had already announced they were abandoning the 5.2 billion euro ($6.99 billion) deal after being informed by the European Commission that it was working on a...