Publication
GCR Guide to Data & Antitrust – Competition law and data
Miranda Cole and Francesco Salis from our Brussels office are the authors of a chapter on the evolving view of data in the application of competition law.
United States | Publication | July 15, 2021
We are in the midst of some of the most significant developments in US antitrust law in decades. The Biden Administration is seeking a sea change away from the consumer welfare standard (price, output, innovation/quality) in place since the 1970s to a new focus on concentration ratios and broader social welfare goals, which harken back to antitrust views in the 1960s. These developments have resulted in a multitude of proposed legislation and administrative rule making that, if implemented, would bring the United States more in line with the European Union (EU), although it remains to be seen whether these proposals will be tempered through the political process or challenged in litigation. This swirl of proposals culminated in President Biden's sweeping "Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy," issued on July 9, 2021, which "establishes a whole-of-government effort to promote competition in the American economy."1 The Executive Order "includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy."2 The extent and impact of these initiatives will take several months if not years to play out.
What is certain, however, is that the US antitrust agencies dramatically will increase the breadth and scope of their investigations of mergers/acquisitions and anticompetitive practices and will be more aggressive in bringing enforcement actions, which may yield an increase in follow-on private litigation. This means that the pace of investigations will be slower as agency staff and economists delve deeper into both theoretical and actual competition issues and may request broader divestiture remedies packages. It also means that consumers and competitors likely will play an increased and more important role in participating in the investigatory process, especially where the agency may seek to block a transaction. To this end, staff will request an increasing number of interviews, investigational hearings and documents from both parties and non-party witnesses.
Here's what you need to know, broken down by industry:
Publication
Miranda Cole and Francesco Salis from our Brussels office are the authors of a chapter on the evolving view of data in the application of competition law.
Publication
Miranda Cole, Lara White and Christoph Ritzer from our Brussels, London and Frankfurt offices are the authors of a chapter on how the interplay between competition and privacy law is affecting online advertising.
Publication
Unannounced inspections by competition authorities, usually called “dawn raids”, are undoubtably one of the most efficient tools for collecting evidence and enforcing competition rules. They are also an area where investigators test (and sometimes exceed) the boundaries of companies’ procedural rights.
Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest legal news, information and events . . .
© Norton Rose Fulbright LLP 2023