Competition

In the past several months, two state courts in the District of Columbia and California decided motions to dismiss in cases alleging that the use of certain revenue management software violated state antitrust laws in the residential property rental management and health insurance industries.  In both industries, parallel class actions are pending in federal court alleging that the same software products facilitate per se illegal hub-and-spoke price-fixing conspiracies under Section 1 of the Sherman Act.  These two state court decisions may preview how federal courts handle similar questions in the federal cases.Continue Reading State Courts Dismiss Claims Involving the Use of Revenue Management Software in Residential Rental and Health Insurance Industries

On November 3, 2023, FTC Chair Lina Khan sent a letter addressed to Representative Thomas P. Tiffany describing the FTC’s merger enforcement program during her tenure at the agency. The letter was a response to an inquiry from seven members of congress for information about the costs associated with certain litigated merger challenges brought by…

Continue Reading Recently Published FTC Data Confirm Historically Low Number of Merger Enforcement Actions

On October 17, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a report on mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) in the defense industrial base. The report details the current M&A review process of the Department of Defense (“DOD”) and provides recommendations to proactively assess M&A competition risks.

Currently, DOD’s Industrial Base Policy (“IBP”) office, with input…

Continue Reading GAO Recommends Increased Guidance for DOD Mergers & Acquisitions Review

A glance at headlines regarding competition law could easily give the impression that U.S. antitrust agencies have embarked on a record number of merger challenges in recent years. But the numbers tell a different story: in the first two years of the current Administration, the rate of merger-related federal enforcement actions has actually decreased. While…

Continue Reading Biden Antitrust Agencies Bring Fewer Merger Enforcement Actions, but Attempt to Chill Deal Activity in Other Ways

On Episode 20 of Covington’s Inside Privacy Audiocast, Dan Cooper, Co-Chair of Covington’s Data Privacy and Cyber Security practice, and Christian Ahlborn, Partner in Covington’s Competition practice, discuss the recently enacted EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the first part of our “Competition and Privacy” mini series.

For more information on the DMA…

Continue Reading Inside Privacy Audiocast: Episode 20 – Competition and Privacy Series: The EU’s Digital Markets Act

The UK’s NSI Act comes into force on January 4th, 2022. In these brief audio recordings, our team sets out what companies in the energy, life sciences and technology sectors need to know about the UK’s newly expanded investment control regime. For further details contact any member of our London team.

In this episode, our…
Continue Reading The UK’s National Security and Investment Act Audiocast Series: Episode 3 – Technology

The UK’s NSI Act comes into force on January 4th, 2022. In these brief audio recordings, our team sets out what companies in the energy, life sciences and technology sectors need to know about the UK’s newly expanded investment control regime. For further details contact any member of our London team.

In this episode, our…
Continue Reading The UK’s National Security and Investment Act Audiocast Series: Episode 2 – Life Sciences

The UK’s NSI Act comes into force on January 4th, 2022. In these brief audio recordings, our team sets out what companies in the energy, life sciences and technology sectors need to know about the UK’s newly expanded investment control regime. For further details contact any member of our London team.

In this episode, our…
Continue Reading The UK’s National Security and Investment Act Audiocast Series: Episode 1 – Energy

Back in 2020, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) had announced, in its annual priorities, its interest in the competition implications of the digital revolution in the financial sector, notably in the context of the growth of FinTech, the introduction of blockchain technology and the emergence of “digital giants” in payment services. Shortly after this announcement, on 13 January 2020, the FCA started an ex officio investigation to assess the competitive situation in the sector of new technologies applied to financial activities and, more specifically, to payment activities.

More than a year later, in a public opinion of over 120 pages, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) provides its initial conclusions (i) noting the emergence of new services, initiation channels and alternative payment methods, (ii) reporting on a new market dynamic with the arrival of new players and the impact on traditional banking groups and (iii) addressing some of the competition issues facing the sector.Continue Reading The French Competition Authority gives its views on the competition issues arising from Fintech

Introduction

On 25 May 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) has published its Final Report of the support studies for the evaluation of its Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and the accompanying Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (the “Final Report”). The Final Report was published following a public consultation from 4 February to 27 May 2019 to gather views on the VBER’s functioning in the digital age. This was inspired by the growing importance of e-commerce and the interest in various online companies. This evolution has affected distribution and pricing strategies for both manufacturers and retailers, which the Commission decided warranted an evaluation of some of the current rules.
Continue Reading The revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation – What is likely to change?