On 14 February 2019, the CAT rejected Mastercard’s attempts to use the evolution of the limitation period for damages claims in the CAT to exclude historic losses. The relevant claims were brought by Dixons and Europcar in reliance on the EC’s December 2007 decision against Mastercard.[1] The EC found that Mastercard had infringed Article 101 TFEU between 22 May 1992 and 19 December 2007 through its use of multi-lateral interchange fees for cross-border transactions made using Mastercard credit and debit cards.
La Gaitana Farms SA and Others vs. British Airways Plc
On January 29, the Court of Appeal held that the English courts lacked jurisdiction to find a standalone infringement in
J Sainbury PLC and ASDA Group Limited vs. CMA
On January 18, the CAT quashed the procedural timetable set by the CMA in the Phase 2 review of the Sainsbury’s/Asda merger. The CMA had given the parties a little over two weeks to respond to over 400 pages of working papers and scheduled the Main Party Hearings during the same period. The CAT found the deadlines were unreasonable and unfair given the volume and complexity of the papers, the CMA’s failure to engage in a longer pre-notification period despite the parties’ requests, and the overlap of the deadlines for the main hearing and response to the working papers. The CAT did not specify new deadlines, which were left to the CMA’s discretion, having regard to the overall statutory review period.
CMA vs Concordia International RX (UK)
In October 2017, the CMA obtained a warrant to enter Concordia’s (now called Advanz Pharma) business premises and search for documents relating to suspected anticompetitive behaviour in the pharmaceutical sector. Concordia applied to have the warrant discharged because it had been cooperating with the CMA’s investigation, and so there was no basis for the CMA to suspect that it would tamper with evidence.
Advocate General Kokott Issues an Opinion on the Scope of Application of the Private Damages Directive
2018 Year-End Review: Record Amount of Competition Fines, Cartels Fines on the Decline, Increased Practice of Pull-and-Refile in Mergers
The Commission issued fines totaling €6.5 billion in 2018, which is a new record and almost double the amount of competition fines in 2017.
2018 Year-end Review: Record Amount of Competition Fines, Cartels Fines on the Decline, Increased Practice of Pull-and-Refile in Mergers
The Commission issued fines totaling €6.5 billion in 2018, which is a new record and almost double the amount of competition fines in 2017.
FCJ Raises Evidential Bar in Cartels Damage Claims
On December 11, 2018, the FCJ passed its long awaited judgment on the use of prima facie evidence in cartel damage proceedings.[1] In the context of damage claims resulting from the rail cartel, the FCJ found that plaintiffs can no longer rely on prima facie evidence alone to prove that a cartel caused them to suffer loss and damage. This marks a significant reversal of recent German case law.