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Jamaica: FTC requests clarification on jurisdiction

By  |  January 19, 2015

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) is seeking clarification and a final judicial interpretation on a number of issues which relate to its jurisdiction and investigative limitations. The FTC filed an appeal with the Privy Council, Jamaica’s court of last resort, after the Court of Appeal ruled that the FTC could not legally investigate a merger that was previously approved by a relevant minister, claiming that it could not have been the intention of Parliament for this to occur.

The ruling concerning jurisdiction came from an FTC investigation of the merger of telecommunications companies Digicel and Claro. The merger was approved by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding in 2011, took effect in March of 2012, and then moved through the courts until the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in December 2014.

The FTC appealed on January 9, but no date has yet been set for the hearing.

Full Content: Jamaica Observer

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