White & Case (Brussels)

Mark Powell

White & Case (Brussels)
Partner

Mark Powell is a Partner at White & Case LLP. He has been advising clients on competition law issues for nearly thirty years. His practice has a particular focus on the interface between competition law and sector-specific regulatory requirements, in such areas as telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, energy, the media and transport. Clients benefit from his considerable experience handling regulatory clearance for complex mergers and acquisitions, including Zimmer/Biomet, Telia/Telenor (abandoned), Acergy/Subsea7, HBO/Ziggo, and Sanofi-Aventis/Zentiva. His work on Aegean/Olympic II was so persuasive that it resulted in the European Commission clearing it in a Phase II proceeding- the first time that it had cleared such a deal, having previously prohibited it. In addition, Mark has developed a significant track record representing and advising clients involved in cartel investigations, in areas including Euribor derivatives, nucleotides, synthetic rubber, candle wax, calcium carbide, ball bearings and power cables. He has helped clients to make successful appeals to the European Commission regarding matters ranging from infringement decisions to the re-negotiation of fines. Based in Brussels and London, he is able to advise international clients on both European and UK market investigation and merger cases.

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Articles

10159 Bulletin

Katarzyna Czapracka, Tilman Kuhn, Cornelius Börner, Mark Powell The EU Court of Justice holds that the Commission needs to show based on a "cogent and consistent body of evidence" that a merger will result in a significant impediment to effective competition before it blocks the transaction or imposes remedies (Telefónica / Hutchison 3G)

88

The EU Court of Justice in the CK Telecoms ruling has addressed key questions of EU merger control, including the standard of proof for the European Commission to challenge a merger, the assessment of mergers below the dominance threshold ("gap cases"), the concepts of "closeness of (...)

Christoph Arhold, Mark Powell, Genevra Forwood, Irina Trichkovska The EU Commission adopts a second amendment to the Temporary Crisis Framework to support businesses affected by Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the unfolding energy crisis

121

On 28 October 2022, the European Commission adopted the second amendment to its State Aid Temporary Crisis Framework to support businesses affected by Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the unfolding energy crisis White & Case provides an overview of the key amendments. The Temporary (...)

Tilman Kuhn, Strati Sakellariou-Witt, Mark J. Gidley, Kathryn Jordan Mims, George Paul, Mark Powell, Cristina Caroppo, Peter Citron The EU Commission plans a series of dawn raids to investigate anticompetitive practices in labor markets

410

No-poach agreements on the European Commission dawn raid radar* In a speech on 22 October 2021, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed that the European Commission was planning a series of dawn raids for the months to come. She highlighted that the European Commission is not (...)

Marc Israel, Tilman Kuhn, Mark Powell, Yann Utzschneider, Mathis Rust, Peter Citron The EU Commission publishes for public consultation drafts of revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and revised Guidelines on vertical restraints

714

On 9 July 2021, the European Commission (EC) published for public consultation a draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and draft revised guidelines on vertical restraints (Vertical Guidelines). The EC has made substantial revisions, including adjustments to the rules (...)

Jérémie Marthan, Tilman Kuhn, Mark Powell, Rahel Wendebourg The French Council of State rejects the application from a biotechnology company to suspend the referral by the French Competition Authority of its acquisition of a company developing multi-cancer early detection tests, and rules that it does not have jurisdiction to suspend a request for referral (Illumina / Grail)

372

The European Commission ("EC") is shifting its approach with respect to the referral mechanism under Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation 139/2004 (the "EUMR") and now – at least in certain circumstances – encourages referrals from Member States even where the national filing thresholds are (...)

Jérémie Marthan, Tilman Kuhn, Mark Powell, Rahel Wendebourg The Court of The Hague decides not to ban the Dutch Competition Authority from joining the referral request launched by the French Competition Authority (Illumina / Grail)

228

The European Commission ("EC") is shifting its approach with respect to the referral mechanism under Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation 139/2004 (the "EUMR") and now – at least in certain circumstances – encourages referrals from Member States even where the national filing thresholds are (...)

Mark Powell, Alexandra Rogers, Marc Israel, Genevra Forwood The EU Court of Justice confirms that a parent company is jointly liable for the conduct of a former subsidiary involved in a cartel in the high-voltage power cable sector (Goldman Sachs)

570

The European Court of Justice (the "ECJ") has confirmed the EU General Court’s (and the European Commission’s) finding that Goldman Sachs was jointly liable for the conduct of a former subsidiary, Prysmian, which the Commission fined for its involvement in the high voltage power cables cartel (...)

Tobias Heinrich, Tilman Kuhn, Mark Powell, Orion Berg, Thilo-Maximilian Wienke, Camille Grimaldi, Fanny Abouzeid The EU Parliament and Council release a regulation on foreign direct investment screening regime

183

While there is still no standalone foreign direct investment (FDI) screening at the EU level, the EU continues to push for a coordinated approach toward foreign direct investments into the EU. The key instrument is the EU Screening Regulation, which has entered into force on October 11, 2020. (...)

Heather Greenfield, Mark Powell, Nicholas Putz, George Paul, Rebecca Farrington (Hilberman), Axel P. Schulz, Jan Jeram The US DoJ and FTC implement policies in response to COVID-19 including new measures to the HSR e-filing system

295

Last week, in response to the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the antitrust agencies in the United States and European Union issued policies that will affect, and may delay, merger filings and reviews. On March 13, 2020, the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade (...)

Mark Powell, Charles Balmain, Marc Israel, Raif Hassan, Mark J. Gidley The UK Court of Appeal adjusts-down a follow-on damages award in a cartel case and emphasises the principle that damages may only be compensatory, not punitive (BritNed / ABB)

20

In BritNed v ABB, the English Court of Appeal substantially reduced the UK’s first award of damages in a so-called cartel damages claim brought for breach of European competition law. In so doing, the Court rejected calls for a more strict and punitive approach to damages in cartel claims. The (...)

Mark J. Gidley, Veronica Pinotti, Mark Powell, Jonathan Klaren, Martino Sforza The Italian Parliament reforms the legal framework governing class actions to extend the period which class members can opt-in and provides more generous rules on standing

19

New Rules Governing Expanded Class Action Lawsuits in Italy to Take Effect on April 19, 2020 The old thinking that class actions are only a threat in the US is history. The latest European example is Italy, where on April 3, 2019, the Italian Parliament enacted legislation amending the laws (...)

Mark Powell, Axel P. Schulz, Jan Jeram The EU General Court holds that institutional investors can face parental liability for infringement of EU competition law (Power Cables cartel)

180

On 12 July 2018, the EU’s General Court handed down 12 judgments relating to the power cables case. Among these was a judgment which confirmed that a parent company able to exercise all the voting rights in a subsidiary is presumed liable for any infringement of the EU competition rules by (...)

Axel P. Schulz, James Killick, Jérémie Jourdan, Mark Powell The EU Court of Justice annuls a decision of the Commission requesting information on the ground that the decision did not sufficiently explain why the information requested was necessary (Italmobiliare, Schwenk Zement, HeidelbergCement and Buzzi Unicem)

1003

Introduction On 10 March 2016, the European Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling annulling European Commission decisions requesting information from cement manufacturers, on the ground that the decisions did not sufficiently explain why the information requested was necessary . This (...)

Charles Balmain, Jean-Paul Tran Thiet, Mark J. Gidley, Mark Powell The UK Court of Appeal requires French defendants to comply with disclosure orders despite the French "blocking statute" (Secretary of State for Health / Servier Laboratories)

240

This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. The existence in several countries of “blocking statutes”, which prohibit the provision of economic information to foreign authorities or courts (or require (...)

Assimakis Komninos, Ian Forrester, Jacquelyn MacLennan, Kai Struckmann, Mark Powell, Pontus Lindfelt The European Commission adopts a package on private damages actions in antitrust cases

327

This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Summary On 11 June 2013, the European Commission (“Commission”) adopted a proposal for a directive on how citizens and companies can bring damages claims (...)

James Killick, Mark Powell The EU General Court holds for the first time that the Commission erred in relying on the presumption that a parent company is liable for the anticompetitive conduct of its wholly-owned subsidiary (Hydrogen Peroxide)

513

By its decision of 3 May 2006, the Commission imposed fines totalling over EUR 388 million on a number of companies for their participation in a cartel on the market for hydrogen peroxide and sodium perborate (bleaching agents) between 31 January 1994 and 31 December 2000. Among the companies (...)

James Killick, Mark Powell The EU General Court partially annuls the Commission’s decision and reduces fines in a cartel case concerning the international removal services market in Belgium (Gosselin / Verhuizingen Coppens)

485

By its decision of 11 March 2008, the Commission imposed fines totalling over EUR 32 million on ten companies for their participation in a cartel on the international removal services market in Belgium between October 1984 and September 2003. In particular, the Commission imposed fines of EUR (...)

James Killick, Mark Powell The EU CFI overturns the EU Commission’s decision to block a merger in the packaging equipment sector addressing the issues of conglomerate effects and leveraging (Tetra Laval / Sidel)

418

For the third time this year, and the second time this week, the European Court of First Instance ("CFI") has overturned a decision of the EC Commission to block a merger. Once again, the CFI criticized the Commission’s factual findings and its analysis. Within hours of the judgment, (...)

3931 Review

David Sevy, Frederic Jenny, Mark Powell Private enforcement: Current issues

959

This set of three papers is derived from the training session on the Private enforcement organized by the Concurrences Review that has held on 5th July 2012 in Brussels. In the first contribution, Frederic Jenny, chairman of the OECD Competition Committee, describes the main economic and legal (...)

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