The UK Department for Business Innovation & Skills has today announced the Government's proposals for a complete overhaul of the UK competition law regime. Headline changes include:
- The Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission will be merged into a single Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This should make investigations and decision-making more efficient.
- The criminal cartel offence will no longer require proof of "dishonesty". This should dramatically increase the number of criminal convictions for individuals involved in cartels affecting the UK.
- The UK merger control regime will remain voluntary (unlike the vast majority of regimes worldwide) but the CMA will have enhanced powers to halt and reverse integration of completed deals. This will increase risks for transaction parties who do not make UK merger clearance a condition precedent when a transaction raises potential competition concerns in the UK. Also, merger fees payable by acquiring parties (which are already high by international standards) will be increased to cover CMA costs.
- The administrative (rather than judicial) nature of investigations into anti-competitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position will remain but procedural safeguards for due process will be strengthened. For example, the individuals conducting investigations will not make final decisions on infringement. Also, the threshold for the CMA to impose "interim measures" (i.e. to grant an injunction or otherwise intervene while it conducts its investigation) will be lowered. This will make it easier for complainants to halt potentially anti-competitive conduct without waiting years for an investigation to conclude.
- Market investigations will be streamlined and statutory timetable deadlines imposed on the CMA.
The timing for implementation of the various reforms has not yet been determined.
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