Stephen Wisking is a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, based in London. Stephen practises in all aspects of competition law. He has extensive experience in contentious competition matters including cartels, market investigations and competition litigation (follow-on damages, stand-alone litigation and regulatory appeals) as well as providing non-contentious strategic competition advice and advising on mergers. He has been involved in competition disputes since the start of his career and has been involved in numerous cases in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) since its inception in 2001. He is a qualified solicitor advocate and has appeared as an advocate in the CAT. His particular sectoral experience is in relation to media (particularly broadcasting), telecoms, energy and pharmaceuticals and professional services. Stephen works on large and complex competition and economic regulatory disputes and investigations involving highly technical expert evidence.
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The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill (DMCC Bill) has now been published and introduced before Parliament. This Bill is long awaited, having been delayed by parliamentary priorities and timing considerations. Its scope and implications are wide-ranging, and follow on both from a (...)
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On 8 February 2023, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) issued a joint judgment in two cases : BMW AG v CMA and R (on the application of VW AG) v CMA, relating to the territorial scope of the CMA’s information gathering powers under Section 26 of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98). The CAT (...)
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On 25 May 2022 the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling on costs in Pfizer and Flynn Pharma and concluded that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) had applied the correct test when awarding a proportion of their costs against the CMA. The Court of Appeal had held that, (...)
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On 6 May 2022 the UK government published its response to the July 2021 consultation on a new pro-competition regime for digital markets (see our blog post here), setting out its proposals for the design of a new regime to proactively shape the behaviour of the most powerful technology firms (...)
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On 20 April 2022 the UK government published its response to the consultation launched in July 2021, proposing a wide range of far-reaching changes to the UK competition and consumer protection regimes (see our blog post on the consultation here). Taking into account the feedback received from (...)
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The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT“) has ruled for the first time that collective proceedings can only proceed on an opt-in basis, rather than the opt-out basis sought by the class applicants. The ruling came in the O’Higgins/Evans case, concerning two competing applications for a (...)
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On 25 March 2022, the UK Government published a consultation on how “subsidies of interest” and “subsidies of particular interest” are to be defined under the UK’s new subsidy control regime. These concepts are fundamental, as they determine which subsidies are to be referred to the UK’s (...)
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Through a pattern of recent enforcement action, the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") has sent a clear message to business : it will not hesitate to hold senior management personally liable for competition law infringements. As a matter of policy the CMA is increasingly determined (...)
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In its judgment of 6 October 2021, following a reference by the Provincial Court of Barcelona, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that a victim of anti-competitive conduct is entitled to seek damages from the subsidiary (not referred to in the infringement decision) of an infringing (...)
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On 18 August 2021 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) approved the first application for a collective proceedings order (CPO) under the UK’s competition class action regime introduced in 2015, in Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated and Others. The application was initially (...)
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On 23 July 2021 the CMA published the report of its market study into the electric vehicle (EV) charging sector, in which it sets out a range of measures in order to ensure that a comprehensive and competitive national network of EV charge points is in place ahead of the 2030 ban on new petrol (...)
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On 20 July 2021 the UK government launched a consultation on a wide range of far-reaching changes it is proposing to the UK competition and consumer protection regimes. As a result of Brexit the UK is now in a position to decide, independently from the EU Commission, how it promotes and (...)
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On 20 July 2021 the government published a consultation on its proposals for a new pro-competition regime for digital markets. The proposals are based on the recommendations set out in the Furman Review, the CMA’s final report of its market study into online platforms and advertising and the (...)
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On 16 February the UK government published a Report by John Penrose MP, commissioned earlier this year to lead a review on how the UK’s competition regime will need to evolve to meet its policy aims of promoting a dynamic, innovation-driven economy which delivers for consumers and businesses (...)
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On 26 January 2021 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) published a notice of a standalone competition damages claim (brought under section 47A of the Competition Act 1998) by Kerilee Investments, a metal trader, against the International Tin Association, a UK based trade association. The (...)
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On 15 December the European Commission announced far-reaching proposals for regulation of the digital sector in the form of a Digital Services Act (DSA) and a Digital Markets Act (DMA). In summary the DSA contains new rules including on illegal content and transparency. It applies to all (...)
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Earlier today the Supreme Court handed down its hotly-anticipated judgment regarding the certification of an opt-out competition collective action brought by Walter Merricks against Mastercard. The claim is seeking £14bn in damages on behalf of some 46.2 million UK consumers, in respect of (...)
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On 11 December 2020 the Supreme Court handed down a very significant judgment relating to the certification of a £14bn opt-out competition collective action brought by Walter Merricks against Mastercard, in respect of losses alleged to have resulted from the use of anti-competitive (...)
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On 9 December 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) annulled a European Commission decision accepting legally binding commitments offered by Paramount aimed at addressing a Commission investigation into cross-border pay-TV in the EU (the “Paramount Commitment Decision”). The CJEU also (...)
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Last week both the CMA and the European Commission published their final guidance on the impact of Brexit on competition law after the end of the transition period. Both sets of guidance explain the legal changes after the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 and how these will (...)
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In July 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) published its market study final report “Online platforms and digital advertising” (“Report”) (see the Report here). The Report includes significant recommendations on the future regulation of platforms funded by digital (...)
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on its approach to merger control during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance deals with procedural issues as well as substantive assessment, and makes it clear that on the whole the CMA’s approach remains one of ‘business as (...)
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On 8 April 2020 the Commission published a ‘Temporary framework for assessing antitrust issues related to business cooperation in response to situations of urgency stemming from the current COVID-19 outbreak’ (Temporary Framework). The Commission recognises the exceptional challenges faced by (...)
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On 10 March 2020 the UK Court of Appeal handed down its hotly anticipated judgment in Flynn Pharma Limited & Anr vs Competition and Markets Authority. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was seeking to reinstate record fines totalling £89.4m imposed on pharmaceutical companies (...)
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On 31 January 2020, at 11pm GMT, the UK ceased to be a Member State of the EU and the transition period provided for in Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement started to run. This briefing looks at the provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement that are relevant for merger control, both during (...)
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On 10th May 2019 the CMA secured the disqualification of three former directors of companies involved in a bid rigging cartel in the design, construction and fit-out services sector. The three directors have given legally binding disqualification undertakings under which they will be banned (...)
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In its judgment of 16 April 2019 the Court of Appeal overturned the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) decision refusing certification in the MasterCard collective action claim and remitted the case back to the CAT for a re-hearing. The CAT’s refusal to certify the claim and grant a (...)
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On 4 April 2019 the European Commission ("EC") published an in-depth report on "Competition policy for the digital era" (the "Report"). Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager appointed a panel of three special advisers to prepare the Report (see EC press release here), which is intended (...)
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The EU Commission introduces an online tool for the submission of evidence in cartel and non-cartel cooperation proceedings
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In a preliminary ruling request made by the Finnish Supreme Court on the question of the relevant entities liable for damages, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that principles applied in order to determine the relevant entities for liability for fines under Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (...)
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On 11 February 2019 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) upheld the CMA’s first infringement decision for breach of an interim order imposed on a completed merger under investigation. Electro Rent had served a break notice on the lease of its UK premises without first seeking the CMA’s (...)
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In J Sainsbury plc and Asda Group Limited v Competition and Markets Authority [2019] CAT 1, 18 January 2019 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) granted an application made jointly by Sainsbury’s and Asda (the "Applicants") in respect of two decisions by a regulator, the Competition and (...)
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On 7 September 2018, the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") handed down its judgment in Ping upholding the Competition and Market Authority ("CMA")’s decision that Ping’s online sales ban ("OSB") constituted a restriction of competition by object under EU and UK competition law. The aim of (...)
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The General Court’s ruling in Goldman Sachs’ appeal in the power cables cartel confirms that the bank was jointly and severally liable for the conduct of Prysmian, one of the cartelists, because of the nature of its investment in the company. The General Court confirmed that the Commission was (...)
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For the first time since the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) came into force the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has provided guidance on the scope the standstill obligation (Article 7(1) EUMR) which prevents parties implementing their transaction before the EU Commission issues a clearance (...)
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Already, 2017 has seen significant developments in the UK’s competition litigation landscape. Most recently, last Friday the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) allowed the first ’class action’ brought under the new competition law collective redress regime to continue, at least for now, (...)
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On 14 Jul the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) issued its judgment in the damages claim brought by Sainsbury’s against MasterCard. The CAT found that MasterCard’s setting of UK multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for its payment cards infringed the Article 101 TFEU/Chapter I prohibition (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 15 May 2015, the Court of Appeal (by a 2:1 majority) upheld a challenge to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the "CAT") ruling which (...)
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Ryanair Holdings Plc (“Ryanair”) and Aer Lingus Group plc (“Aer Lingus”) are Irish low-cost airline competitors that share more than 40 routes from and to Ireland. On 7 March 2014 in case 1219/4/8/13 Ryanair Holdings PLC v Competition Commission [2014] CAT 3, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (...)
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Introduction The Office of Fair Trading (’OFT’) in a Short Form Opinion dated 23 August 2012 has indicated that a proposed price recommendation to be made by two rural associations, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) (collectively the Parties) (...)
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1. Introduction and overview The European Commission (the "Commission") on 11 June 2013 adopted a package of measures aimed at facilitating competition law private actions in the EU. The package consists of : A proposal for a Directive on competition law private damages actions in the EU (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 1 April 2011, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the "CAT") handed down its judgment on the appeal made by certain participants in the (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 21 November 2008, the Office of Fair Trading (the "OFT") announced its decision to seek undertakings from SRCL Limited (" SRCL") in (...)
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All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. On 19 October 2006, the Court of Appeal issued its ruling in an appeal involving Argos, Littlewoods and JJB under the Competition Act (...)
