UK Watchdog Seeks To Increase Work With Other International Regulators

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has signed a new framework with 5 of its international counterpart competition authorities to improve co-operation on investigations.

The Multilateral Mutual Assistance and Cooperation Framework for Competition Authorities (MMAC) was signed Tuesday, September 2, by Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive Officer of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and counterparts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, marking a new chapter in inter-agency cooperation to address cross-border anti-competitive activity in an increasingly global economy.

Along with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the New Zealand Commerce Commission, Competition Bureau Canada, the United States Department of Justice, and the United States Federal Trade Commission, the CMA hopes that this ambitious agreement will be the first step to bolstering cooperation between these bodies to assist competition investigations.

The new multinational framework includes a memorandum of understanding focused on reinforcing and improving existing cooperation and coordination on investigations. It also contains a model agreement to support the development of individual arrangements among the participants that may include the exchange of case information and assistance in individual competition investigations, to the extent permitted by respective national laws.

Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive Officer of the Competition and Markets Authority, said, “I am very pleased to launch this new framework alongside our international counterparts from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. I hope it will form the basis for future collaborative agreements to address anti-competitive practices that affect us all.”