The UK Government has published a Green Paper proposing fundamental reforms of the public procurement rules governing the purchase of goods, works and services by the public sector and certain utilities.  Those rules are currently set out in a series of UK regulations that are based very closely on EU directives.  Following Brexit, the Government … Read more

We are delighted to share with you the latest update of our report on Foreign Investment: Rising Tides of Politics in Regulation. This edition has been fully updated to reflect the tabling of the National Security and Investment Bill before the UK Parliament, which seeks to introduce a new distinct regime and standalone powers for … Read more

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 multilateral interchange fees. The Supreme Court largely confirmed the less restrictive approach … Read more

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 losses alleged to have resulted from the use of anti-competitive multilateral interchanges … Read more

On 8 December 2020 the CMA issued advice to the UK government on the design and implementation of a new pro-competition regime for digital markets. The advice was prepared by the Digital Markets Taskforce (DMT) formally launched by the CMA on 1 July 2020, following recommendations by the Digital Competition Expert Panel (appointed to advise … Read more

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: Read more

The CMA has today (2 December 2020) launched a market study into the electric vehicle charging sector in the UK. The study will consider two broad themes: how to develop a competitive sector while also attracting private investment to help the sector grow; how to ensure people using electric vehicle chargepoints have confidence that they … Read more

The Government continues to prepare the ground for the regulation of public procurement after the Brexit transition period expires on 31 December 2020.  On 19 November it enacted the Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020) (PPAR 2020).  These amend the existing UK procurement regulations in order to reflect the fact that the UK … Read more