United Kingdom: Antitrust Compliance

A detailed precedent document setting out company guidelines for OFT investigations.

A checklist of items to consider when reviewing a company's competition compliance as part of a legal audit

A checklist of practical considerations when a company is subject to an investigation at its premises by the OFT or UK sectoral regulators. Note that following the entry into force of the Enterprise Act 2002, due to take place in summer 2003, investigations may also cover the new criminal offence in relation to hardcore cartels. This checklist is not intended to deal with the issues that may arise in the context of such an investigation.

The European Commission has fined 14 groups of companies a total of €169 million for price fixing in the international air freight forwarding sector.

The European Commission has conducted unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the supply, transmission and storage of natural gas in several EU member states.

The European Commission has conducted unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the e-book publishing sector in several EU member states.

The General Court of the EU has upheld a fine imposed by the European Commission on E.ON Energie AG for breach of a seal during an inspection.

The Office of Fair Trading has published a report on competition law compliance programmes, containing suggestions and guidance on best practices in the formulation and implementation of an effective compliance programme.

The Advocate General has delivered an opinion supporting the right of the European Commission to seize and use in evidence legal advice given by in-house lawyers.

In the first of a two-part series, an examination of the challenges companies face in managing and protecting their information when dealing with external disclosures.

An explanation of how a company should deal with an unexpected visit from the competition authorities.

The recent judgment in Provimi v Aventis has established that where there is an English element to a cartel, a claimant may now bring an action in London in respect of all its European losses, instead of having to pursue separate claims in multiple jurisdictions.

The last article in the series on the Competition Act 1998 looks at the investigative and enforcement powers of the Office of Fair Trading.

Why and how competition law compliance programmes should be established.

On 15 May 2013, Edward Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, made a statement to Parliament, following the announcement by the European Commission of dawn raids at the premises of several companies active in the crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels sectors. The OFT has also issued a statement.

On 1 November 2012, the Competition Commission published a working paper on market definition as part of its developing thinking on the aggregates, cement and ready-mix concrete market investigation.

On 19 May 2010, the OFT published a report on drivers of compliance and non-compliance with competition law.

It has been widely reported in the press that, during May 2008, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) conducted inspections at the premises of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays as part of an investigation into the alleged price-fixing of loans to professional services providers (see for example, FT.com and news.bbc.co.uk). The inspections are said to follow an application for leniency by Barclays. Press reports note the OFT's confirmation of the investigations, but no official statement in relation to the reported investigations has yet been issued by the OFT.This apparently new investigation follows the OFT's ongoing investigations into the pricing behaviour of the supermarkets and certain manufacturers in connection with dairy products, tobacco products and, also reportedly, groceries, health and beauty products and detergents.

On 5 November 2007, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) published a research report on the extent to which the enforcement work of the OFT and Competition Commission in the area of merger control and that of the OFT in the area of competition law deter other potential mergers and possible competition law infringements. The report suggests that the deterrent effect is significantly greater than the direct effect of enforcement and the OFT considers that it confirms that the OFT's merger control and competition law enforcement work plays an important role in preventing other anti-competitive behaviour from taking place. The OFT also published a discussion document, which forms the basis of a consultation on the impact of the research report's findings on the OFT's policy and prioritisation decisions.

The European Commission has carried out dawn raids at the premises of several calcium carbide suppliers in Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Slovenia as part of an investigation into a suspected price-fixing cartel.

The European Commission has carried out unannounced inspections of various gas and electricity companies.

On 6 October 2005, the Office of Fair Trading published, as part of its series of Competition Act 1998 guidelines, a revised version of the guidelines on the application of competition law to services relating to services (OFT 430). The Office of Rail Regulation consulted on a draft version of these revised guidelines earlier this year and finalised them in August (see Legal update, ORR publishes final Competition Act guidelines and consults on guidelines on reviewing markets). The revised guidelines take account of the changes to UK competition law resulting from the implementation of Regulation 1/2003 and the market investigation provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002.

On 24 May 2005, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched its 'Championing Competition' campaign to promote the benefits of competition to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to help them avoid anti-competitive practices.

The European Commission has conducted co-ordinated raids of shipping companies as part of an investigation into suspected price-fixing and market sharing.

The Serious Fraud Office has carried out a series of dawn raids on six pharmaceutical companies that are suspected of being involved in a conspiracy to defraud the National Health Service.

The Office of Fair Trading has raided four Scottish dairies over allegations that they have abused their dominant position under the Competition Act 1998.

The Office of Fair Trading has conducted the first dawn raids under the Competition Act 1998 which came into force in March this year.

The European Commission has fined a UK based shipping consortium for disrupting an anti-trust raid by Commission officials.