A PYMNTS Company

Blog o’ Blogs September

By  |  September 28, 2017

The holiday season comes to an end, a perfect time to catch up on all the major developments brewing across the world as authorities and businesses make ready to tackle the controversial topics brewing for the short – and the long – terms. Issues such as the handling of previously unknown commodities in the Data business, the appropriate weight of sentences and fines, and a seemingly frantic re-writing of rules for merger transactions in response to our increasingly connected world.

Being neither a physical asset nor intellectual property, data has become the engine that powers much of our new commerce. And for precisely that reason, access to data is becomingly more of a competitive, and hence an antitrust, concern….
Jay Levine and Devan Flahive (Porter Wright)
The deterrence value of competition policy can and should be measured
In a post last year, I argued that it was time for competition economists, both academics and practitioners, to start seriously tackling one of the big unknowns: how much harm is deterred by Competition Law and the Competition Authorities (CAs)?
Steve Davies (UEA Competition Blog)
On June 9, 2017, the 9th amendment of the German Act against Restraints of the Competition (GWB) came into effect. The most significant changes affect the liability for cartel fines, the application of merger control and the compensation for cartel damages.
Eckart Budelmann (Bryan Cave)
Sentencing in Ireland’s First Bid-Rigging Cartel Case: Unduly Lenient?
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has decided to appeal the sentences imposed by the Central Criminal Court (the Court) on 31 May 2017 in Ireland’s first bid-rigging criminal cartel case.
Paul K. Gorecki (Kluwer Competition)
Counsel Paolisa Nebbia (Rome-Antitrust) has authored the chapter on “Merger Control in Italy” that was published by Lexology on August 23, 2017.
Paolissa Nebbia (Shearman Sterling/Lexology)
Three years after the publication of Directive 2014/104/EU of November 26, 2014 (the Directive) creating a common framework for private actions in competition law in Europe, France has just completed its transposition into domestic law by publishing order 2017-303 of March 9, 2017…
EnJeu (Norton Rose Fulbright)
Does the CAT’s fast-track procedure strike the right balance between claimants and defendants?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 significantly expanded the jurisdiction of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘CAT’)….
Sebastian Peyer (UEA Competition Blog)
Marketplace Bullying and Bona Law’s Antitrust Lawsuit in the Cement and Ready Mix Concrete Markets
You drive around the neighborhood with him and discover that other kids seem to be selling lemonade at $7 per glass, which seems a little high, but it is a wealthy neighborhood, so perhaps that is the market price? It has been a warm, surprisingly humid summer in San Diego. You discuss with Johnny how that weather pattern increases demand. Of course, it did seem odd to you that everyone was selling lemonade at exactly $7 per glass, but you dismiss it….
Jarod Bona (The Antitrust Attorney)
D.C. Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Third-Party Presidential Candidates’ Antitrust Claims
On August 29, 2017, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision dismissing a suit filed by 2012 third-party presidential candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, their running mates, their campaigns, and the parties they represented (together, “Plaintiffs”) against the Commission on Presidential Debates…
Jamison Davies and Melissa R. Ginsberg (Patterson Belknap)
Rejection of Containerboard Conspiracy Claims Shows Difficulty of Getting an Antitrust Case to a Jury
How difficult is it to get an antitrust conspiracy case to a jury when there is no direct evidence of the alleged conspiracy? An August 3 decision of the federal district court in Chicago in a long-running class action against paper companies for conspiring to raise prices…
Jeffery May (Wolters Kluwer)
Proposed Legislation to Grant Antitrust Immunity to State Licensing Boards Misses Mark
Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Benjamin Sasse recently proposed a bill to enact the Restoring Board Immunity Act of 2017, which would give state licensing boards antitrust immunity that they may not otherwise be entitled to under the state-action immunity doctrine…
Aaron Gott (Cartel Capers)
Chinese Buyers Act Quickly – Parallel UK & EU Foreign Takeover Control Systems proposed
On the 14th August 2017, it was widely reported in the UK press how Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission President, is preparing to unveil EU foreign takeover controls at a keynote speech in September.
Roman Madej (Bryan Cave)