
UK’s competition watchdog preps to shoulder post-Brexit workload from European Commission. The head of the UK’s competition regulator said the body planned to “come down like a ton of bricks” on anyone attempting to stifle the country’s economic recovery.
Jonathan Scott, chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), stated the nation was now ready to “step up and fulfil the regulatory role previously held by the European Commission.”
Addressing the Law Society last week, Scott said, “Now we are out of the Transition Period, we are carrying responsibility for the biggest and most complex competition and merger investigations which previously would have been the exclusive preserve of the European Commission.
“And post-COVID, we will carry responsibility for coming down like a ton of bricks on anyone attempting to stifle the economic recovery and damage consumer confidence through anti-competitive or unfair activity.”
When it comes to holding businesses to account, he touched on the difficulties faced by “big parties with deep pockets and no shortage of very talented advisers who know only too well how to hold us up.”
He lamented the fact that compared to other regulators, the CMA lacked sufficient oomph and called, instead, for “penalties for non-compliance with the CMA’s investigatory requirements [to] be bolstered.”
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
South Dakota Reaches Settlement With NCAA Ahead of Antitrust Payout Approval
Apr 23, 2025 by
CPI
Judge Allows Yelp’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google to Proceed
Apr 23, 2025 by
CPI
Meta Lawyers Try to Undercut Instagram Co-Founder’s Damaging Testimony
Apr 23, 2025 by
CPI
Tyson Foods, Others Settle Pork Price-Fixing Suit for $64 Million
Apr 23, 2025 by
CPI
NJ Sues RealPage, Landlords Over Rent Collusion
Apr 23, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Mergers in Digital Markets
Apr 21, 2025 by
CPI
Catching a Killer? Six “Genetic Markers” to Assess Nascent Competitor Acquisitions
Apr 21, 2025 by
John Taladay & Christine Ryu-Naya
Digital Decoded: Is There More Scope for Digital Mergers In 2025?
Apr 21, 2025 by
Colin Raftery, Michele Davis, Sarah Jensen & Martin Dickson
AI In the Mix – An Ever-Evolving Approach to Jurisdiction Over Digital Mergers in Europe
Apr 21, 2025 by
Ingrid Vandenborre & Ketevan Zukakishvili
Antitrust Enforcement Errors Due to a Failure to Understand Organizational Capabilities and Dynamic Competition
Apr 21, 2025 by
Magdalena Kuyterink & David J. Teece