The England & Wales Court of Appeal holds that the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has no discretion to extend limitations period for follow-on actions against alleged cartelists (BCL, BASF)

On 12 November 2010, the Court of Appeal for England and Wales ruled that the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) does not have discretion to extend the time period within which follow-on actions for damages may be commenced. The Court of Appeal's judgment provides important clarification of the scope of the CAT's discretion to extend the time limit for lodging a private claim for damages against a company found to have infringed EU or UK competition law. In BCL Old Co Limited v BASF [2010], the Court dismissed an appeal by BCL for an extension of time in which to bring a follow-on action for damages against members of a cartel found by the European Commission to have infringed EU competition rules in the market for certain vitamins. The