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Briefings in English - 2012

UK consultation on a new regime for private damages actions

Businesses that breach competition law will face significantly increased litigation exposure if government proposals published on 24 April 2012 to facilitate access to the UK courts are adopted. The UK government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has launched a consultation on a new litigation regime to compensate victims of competition law breaches. The proposals substantially depart from the present regime and would, if adopted, stimulate growth of the claimant bar, with the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) likely to become a magnet for competition litigation within Europe. The UK wants to take the lead in Europe to promote private enforcement of competition law. (May 2012)

A new era for merger control in Brazil: revised regime from 29 May 2012

Brazil’s new competition legislation enters into force on 29 May 2012. Companies that expect to do business in Brazil must prepare for far-reaching changes to the merger control regime. The introduction of a pre-merger suspensory regime coupled with a lengthy review period will move Brazil up the list of priority jurisdictions when assessing multi‑jurisdictional merger filing requirements and risks. This briefing provides an overview of the main changes to Brazil’s merger control regime. (May 2012)

English High Court orders disclosure of leniency materials

Materials created for and provided to the European Commission as part of a leniency application may have to be disclosed to damages claimants in the English courts. Applying the European Court of Justice’s Pfleiderer judgment, the English High Court in National Grid v ABB yesterday ordered disclosure to the claimant of limited parts of the confidential (non-public) version of the Commission’s switchgear cartel decision. It also ordered that parts of responses to information requests be disclosed. Both contain leniency material. Leniency applicants will therefore have to consider carefully the contents of any written material provided to the Commission in future, as this material may later have to be provided to civil claimants in follow-on claims. (April 2012)

UK competition reform - extensive powers for the new single authority

On 15 March 2012 the UK government announced its long-awaited reforms of the competition regime. As expected, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Competition Commission (CC) will be merged to form a new, powerful body – the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Alongside institutional reform, the government’s announcement contains a range of other changes that will have material consequences on how competition law is enforced in the UK. In this briefing we explain the main changes and assess how the reforms will affect businesses that may be subject to regulatory investigation. (March 2012)

Global antitrust in 2012: 10 key themes

2011 was another eventful year for antitrust laws globally. As the number of antitrust regimes continues to grow, the more mature jurisdictions are adapting their laws and policies to deal with the challenges of rapidly developing industries and increasingly complex commercial arrangements between businesses. (January 2012)

The OFT’s proposed reforms of its penalty guidance and leniency guidance

Proposed amendments to the basis on which the Office of Fair Trading calculates penalties are likely to result in significantly higher fines for businesses involved in competition law breaches. In this briefing, we look at the implications of the reforms and consider the areas likely to be of most concern to business. (January 2012)

Antitrust and foreign investment regulation in Russia – recent changes

Russian antitrust and foreign investment regulation is changing for the better. This client briefing looks at some of the key positive developments and highlights those areas that could do with further improvement. (January 2012)

Briefings in German - 2012

Kein Übergang einer verbrauchsteuerrechtlichen Erlaubnis bei Verschmelzung

Bei einer Verschmelzung eines Unternehmens auf einen anderen Rechtsträger besteht das Ri- siko, dass eine verbrauchsteuerrechtliche Be- günstigung erlischt. So geht laut eines aktu- ellen Urteils des Bundesfinanzhofs (BFH) vom 22. November 2011 (Az. VII R 22/11) die Erlaubnis für ein Unternehmen zur steuerbegünstigten Stromentnahme nach § 9 Abs. 4 i. V. m. Abs. 3 StromStG a. F. bei der Verschmelzung auf einen anderen Rechtträger nicht über, sondern erlischt. Das hatte im entschiedenen Fall erhebliche Steuernachzahlungen zur Folge, da der übernehmende Rechtsträger der Verschmelzung davon ausgegangen war, auf Grundlage der früheren Erlaubnis weiterhin Strom zum vergünstigten Steuersatz entnehmen zu können. Das Urteil wirft die Frage auf, ob bei Umwandlungsmaßnahmen energie- und stromsteuerrechtliche Begünstigungen erhalten und Nachzahlungen vermieden werden können. (Februar 2012)

Ausnahmen werden zur Ausnahme

Am 14. Dezember 2011 ist das »Gesetz zur Änderung des Vergaberechts für die Bereiche Verteidigung und Sicherheit« in Kraft getreten. Es setzt die EU-Richtlinie 2009/81/EG zu Vergaben im Bereich Verteidigung und Sicherheit um. Die Umsetzung der Richtlinie ist durch Ergänzung der §§ 97 ff. GWB und durch eine Vergabeverordnung Verteidigung und Sicherheit erfolgt. Die im GWB ergänzten egelungen sind kompliziert ausgefallen; die bislang ergangene Rechtsprechung ist auf sie nur eingeschränkt übertragbar. Die Voraussetzungen für die Freistellung eines bestimmten Auftrags vom Vergaberecht sind erheblich strenger geworden. Damit einher geht die Eröffnung von effektivem Rechtsschutz im Verteidigungs- und Sicherheitsbereich. (Januar 2012)

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