Clifford Chance

Reform of the UK Competition Regime: What's on the Table?

13 April 2011

The UK Government has set out the options for a major reform of the UK competition regime.

The consultation issued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ("BIS") on 16 March 2011 contains proposals touching on every area of competition regulation, including:

• combining the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") and the Competition Commission into a single "Competition and Markets Authority" ("CMA");
• introducing mandatory filing requirements and standstill obligations into the UK merger control regime and increasing filing fees to as much as £220,000 for the largest transactions;
• removing the requirement for dishonesty in the criminal cartel offence;
• creating an Internal Tribunal within the CMA to act as the decision maker in investigations into breaches of the civil prohibitions on anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominance, or moving to a more prosecutorial model with the Competition Appeal Tribunal adjudicating;
• imposing shorter time limits on market investigations and allowing super-complaints by representatives of small and medium sized enterprises;
• imposing stronger obligations on sector regulators to apply competition law in preference to regulatory powers, and giving the CMA a greater role in regulated sectors; and
• plans (separately announced) to transfer the consumer enforcement and advisory functions of the OFT to Trading Standards and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The consultation explains that the key aims of the reforms are to improve the robustness of decisions and strengthen the regime, support the competition authorities in taking forward the right cases, and improve speed and predictability for business. While cost-savings do not feature prominently in the objectives, BIS notes that "reform should wherever possible reduce the cost to business and the public purse".

The deadline for responses to the consultation is 13 June 2011. For further information, or to discuss how your business can become involved in the consultation, please contact a member of Clifford Chance's antitrust team in London.

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