Making markets work for consumers is a core mission for UK agencies with competition and consumer protection responsibilities. This task assumes heightened importance in the context of current cost-of-living pressures. In this post, we discuss recent regulatory interventions that have focused on these issues.
On 11 July 2023, the UK Government published its second Annual Report on the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (the “Act”).
The Annual Report begins with an introduction by Oliver Dowden MP, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is the formal decision-maker under the Act in his role as the Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office. This introduction seeks to reassure investors that the Act is a “light-touch, proportionate regime that offers companies and investors the certainty they need to do business, while crucially protecting the UK’s national security in an increasingly volatile world.”
The UK introduced a new collective proceedings regime for competition damages claims in October 2015.[1] The early years of the new regime were characterized by cautious uncertainty as the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and the appellate courts grappled with identifying the standards for certification.[2] It took almost six years before the CAT certified the first claim in Merricks in August 2021.[3] The CAT subsequently certified 10 other claims in less than two years, which in turn, encouraged additional claims to be brought.
On 25 May 2023, the High Court ordered that an individual disqualified by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may continue as the director of Cantillon, a construction company fined £1.92 million for its involvement in a bid-rigging cartel.[1] The High Court’s Order—which was opposed by the CMA—is the fourth time since 2019 that the Court has granted an exemption from a director disqualification undertaking obtained by the CMA.
The explosion in the development of generative AI has been referred to as an “Oppenheimer” moment. Just last week, a group of more than 350 executives and scientists jointly stated that “[m]itigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” And more than 1,000 tech leaders have called for a moratorium on AI development until regulations governing its safe use are devised.
On 4 May 2023, the CMA launched an ‘initial review’ of AI foundation models.[1] The review follows the UK government’s request in its AI White Paper[2] for UK regulators to consider their role in the development and deployment of AI. The review is intended to develop competition and consumer protection guidance/principles that will “best guide the development of these markets going forward.”
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has identified “roll-up” acquisitions (the acquisition of several targets in the same sector) by financial investors, such as private equity firms, as an enforcement priority. In this post, we discuss the CMA’s enforcement focus, its recent decisional practice, and implications for merging parties. The main takeaways are:
In the latest episode of Antitrust Review, host Nick Levy is joined by Cleary Gottlieb experts Jackie Holland, Henry Mostyn and Conor Opdebeeck-Wilson to discuss the UK’s proposal for a new regime regulating the world’s leading digital platforms.