Nicholas Levy

On 22 June 2020, the UK Government introduced new measures allowing it to intervene in merger transactions “to maintain in the United Kingdom the capability to combat, and to mitigate the effects of, public health emergencies." The Government will be able to intervene on these grounds in any (...)

In a landmark Judgment delivered on May 28, the General Court overturned the European Commission’s 2016 prohibition of the Three/O2 UK mobile telecommunications merger. The Judgment raises the bar for the Commission in respect of (1) the legal standard the Commission must meet ; (2) the (...)

On 1 April 2020, the CAT published a summary of an application to commence collective proceedings under section 47B of the Competition Act 1998. The application was filed by Mark McLaren Class Representative Limited, a special purpose vehicle, alleging losses arising from the European (...)

In a March 25, 2020 communication, the European Commission (“EC”) issued guidance on the screening of foreign direct investments (“FDI”) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The communication identifies an increased risk of attempts by non-EU acquirers to obtain control over suppliers of (...)

I came to Brussels to practise competition law a week after the EU Merger Regulation (the “EUMR”) [1] entered into force in 1990 and can well remember the antitrust community’s sense of expectation, trepidation, and excitement. Expectation because of the long period of gestation that followed the Court of Justice’s judgment in Continental Can [2] and the uncertainty around the European Commission’s (the “Commission’s”) ability to implement an EU-wide system of merger control. Trepidation because of the significant practical challenges, open questions of law, and untested principles that were raised by the EUMR. Excitement because of the realization that the practice of EU competition law would almost certainly be permanently and materially changed. Among the many open questions was the role that would be played by the EU Courts and the scope for effective and timely judicial review of Commission decisions.

On 21 February, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) found that Hargreave Hale Ltd (“Hargreave Hale”), Newton Investment Management Limited (“Newton”), and River and Mercantile Asset Management LLP (“RAMAM”) had breached competition law by sharing strategic information on a bilateral basis (...)