Joanna Christoforou is a partner with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP based in London. She focuses her practice on EU and UK competition law and antitrust, including competition law litigation in the European and English Courts. Joanna Christoforou defends clients in cartel or abuse of dominance investigations, competition disputes, dawn raids, damages actions, merger control, restructuring, and joint ventures, and advises clients on a range of competition law matters. She represents clients before the European Commission, the European Courts, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, as well as antitrust authorities in other jurisdictions.
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The UK Competition Authority launches market investigation into cloud services Following the UK Office of Communications’ (Ofcom’s) report on the supply of cloud services in the United Kingdom, in which it identified a concern that certain market features may negatively impact competition, (...)
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The UK government recently published the highly anticipated Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, creating a new ex-ante regime for digital markets through proposed changes to UK competition law and enhanced consumer protection. The April 25, 2023 Bill is the UK equivalent of the (...)
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The UK communications regulator and concurrent competition authority, Ofcom, announced on April 5 its proposal to refer the UK cloud services market to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for further investigation. This coincided with publication of the interim report of Ofcom’s market (...)
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The UK government announced on 20 July that the National Security and Investment Act will enter into force on 4 January 2022. This act introduces mandatory filings for certain investments raising national security concerns, grants the UK government extensive call-in powers for up to five years (...)
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The UK National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) received royal assent on 29 April 2021. Expected to come into force in late 2021, the NSI Act will introduce a standalone UK foreign direct investment and national security screening regime, replacing the current regime that links (...)
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The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a paper on 19 January on the impact of algorithms on competition in digital markets and consumer welfare. The CMA followed up its paper with a call for evidence from market participants, academics, and industry experts, and with a (...)
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Following Brexit, EU competition law continued to apply in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2020 as part of an agreed Transition Period. In this LawFlash, we summarise how the end of the Transition Period is likely to impact the enforcement of competition law in the United Kingdom going (...)
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The proposed regime is a huge departure for the United Kingdom, since it introduces mandatory filings for certain investments raising a national security concern, while it also gives the UK government extensive call-in powers for a period of up to five years for completed transactions, and it (...)
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The UK government and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have announced the withdrawal of draft guidance on the CMA’s powers and procedures with respect to enforcing an EU regulation for screening foreign direct investment (FDI) into the European Union. The withdrawal follows a (...)
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As noted in our recent LawFlashes, New Powers for UK Government in Transactions Impacting Public Health Emergencies and National Security and Potential UK Reforms Could Increase Screening of Certain Foreign Takeovers, governments are increasing their scrutiny of certain foreign direct (...)
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The UK government passed reforms on 21 July 2020 lowering the thresholds to intervene in mergers and acquisitions considered relevant to UK national security in the artificial intelligence, cryptographic authentication, and advanced materials sectors. Longer term the UK government is planning (...)
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The UK Competition and Markets Authority on June 19 announced that it had opened investigations against four pharmacies and convenience stores in relation to suspected breaches of antitrust rules by charging excessive and unfair prices for hand sanitiser products during the coronavirus (...)
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On June 17, 2020, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the appeals on the lawfulness of multilateral interchange fees, or swipe fees, (MIFs) in Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd (Respondent) v. Visa Europe Services LLC and Others (Appellants) and Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd and Others (...)
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The European Commission has revised its Temporary Framework for State Aid to support the economy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to allow capital injections by EU member states into nonfinancial firms affected by the pandemic. To support the economy in the current COVID-19 (...)
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The European Commission (EC) on May 4 announced the adoption of exceptional derogations from EU competition rules to allow certain types of cooperation in the following sectors: milk and milk products, potatoes, and live plants and flowers, as part of a wider package to support the agri-food (...)
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The UK Parliament on May 1 adopted the Dairy Produce Order, which temporarily relaxes the application of UK competition law to certain types of cooperation between either dairy produce suppliers or logistic service providers to address issues in the supply chain caused by the ongoing (...)
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The UK government’s Dairy Produce Order of May 1, 2020, which temporarily relaxed the application of UK competition law to certain types of cooperation in the dairy sector between dairy produce suppliers or dairy logistic service providers during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, (...)
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New guidance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority warns that it will not relax its substantive or evidentiary standards for merger investigations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Statutory deadlines will not be altered, although aspects of investigations may be subject to (...)
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The European Commission has provided antitrust guidance to companies cooperating in response to urgent coronavirus (COVID-19) related matters, particularly in the health sector for critical hospital medicines and medical equipment, and has also exceptionally issued a “comfort letter” on a (...)
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The European Commission published its first comfort letter in nearly 20 years on April 29, in an effort to foster cooperation among businesses during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Here is what companies should know about the specific practices permitted under the comfort letter, as well (...)
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The European Commission has approved a £50 billion (EUR 57 billion) “umbrella” UK state aid scheme to support small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporates in the United Kingdom affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The umbrella scheme was approved on April 6, 2020, under (...)
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The European Commission revised its Temporary Framework for State Aid to support the economy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, allowing investment aid to companies involved in the fight against the pandemic, as well as new forms of operating aid for companies in severely impacted (...)
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UK emergency state aid measures for small and medium-sized enterprises related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will include direct grants and guarantees covering 80% of loan facilities. The European Commission on March 25 approved UK emergency state aid measures for small and (...)
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New guidance from UK Competition and Markets Authority allows coordination between businesses in certain circumstances, such as to avoid shortages, protect the public interest, and safeguard health, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the guidance also underscores that the UK (...)
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The UK government announced on March 19 that as part of a package of measures to allow supermarkets to work together to feed the nation during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, elements of competition law will be temporarily relaxed for the food sector. Authorities, however, stressed that (...)
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The European Commission on 19 March adopted a Temporary Framework for State Aid to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which enables the Commission to approve national support measures (...)
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Technology’s impact on competition in the financial services sector is profound. It has changed the competitive landscape by laying the ground for new financial products and services offered by traditional banks, fintechs and big tech. This has created new issues for antitrust enforcement and (...)
