PrésentationsWelcome & Introductory Remarks
Pierre Kirch, Partner, Paul Hastings, Brussels/Paris
Pierre Kirch introduced the main themes of the third annual Global Merger Conference with a rhetorical question on the reasons such a heteroclite group would come together to discuss merger control in a worldwide context thanks to a muted teleconference system open to audio participants worldwide.
According to Mr. Kirch, the response is to be found in the conjunction of three elements : (i), the proliferation of merger control regimes in recent years ; (ii), the rapidness of technological change which has a significant impact on the enforcement of merger control rules and (iii), the way merger control is perceived, as a worldwide phenomenon by multinational companies.
Mr. Kirch recalled that three “constituencies” were involved in merger control proceedings : companies, outside counsel and enforcement agencies. All three are obliged to have a worldwide vision of merger control. Companies are “businesses without borders” and therefore, their lawyers should be “lawyers without borders”. Finally, in today’s environment enforcers cooperate with other jurisdictions. At the same time, Mr. Kirch opined that significant divergences between jurisdictions still exist in the way merger control is applied.