Heathrow to appeal against CAA price cap as airport warns passengers will bear the brunt of ‘underinvestment’ April 19, 2023 Heathrow Airport has said it will launch an appeal against the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision on how much it can charge passengers until December 2026. The Competition and Markets Authority will review the airport’s grounds for appeal and decide if any can proceed. Last month the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed that the cap [...]
Under a cloud: Dominance of Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure questioned as Ofcom considers CMA referral April 5, 2023 Ofcom has proposed referring UK cloud services to the competition regulator, citing concerns that key players Amazon and Microsoft could stifle competition. The communications regulator said it has proposed referring the sector to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after it identified features which make it harder for customers to switch or use multiple providers. [...]
CMA drops concerns over Microsoft takeover of Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard… for now March 24, 2023 The UK competition watchdog has provisionally dropped concerns that Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Call Of Duty developer Activision Blizzard would damage the UK console gaming market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last month warned the 68.7 billion dollar (£56.7 billion) deal could result in higher prices, fewer choices or less innovation for UK gamers. [...]
10 construction firms fined £60m for ‘illegally colluding’ to rig contracts including for Selfridges and 135 Bishopsgate March 23, 2023 The UK competition watchdog has fined 10 construction firms a total of almost £60 million for “illegally colluding” to rig bids for contracts. The construction firms have been punished over cartel agreements related to 19 contracts worth over £150 million on both public and private sector contracts. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the [...]
CMA: US chipmaker Broadcom’s £50bn VMware deal could hurt server competition March 22, 2023 Britain’s competition regulator said U.S. chipmaker Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware VMW.N could make servers more expensive, and it would refer the $61 billion deal (£49bn) to an in-depth inquiry unless its concerns were addressed. Broadcom AVGO.O agreed to buy the cloud computing and virtualisation company last year to diversify into enterprise software. Britain’s Competition and [...]
‘Intelligence received’ suggesting airports breaking competition law – regulator January 26, 2023 UK airports could be breaking competition law, according to information received by a regulator. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has written to airport operators warning of “serious consequences” for illegal information sharing. The letter, produced jointly with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), stated: “The CMA has recently received intelligence to suggest that some UK [...]
HSBC will face no penalty for breaching open banking rules over 50 times January 19, 2023 The Competition & Markets Authority has criticised HSBC for breaching open banking rules on over 50 occasions, but the banking giant has been told it will receive no penalty. HSBC published inaccurate information and failed to publish required information on more than 50 occasions over the last five years, the watchdog said. The violations of [...]
Open banking enters ‘new phase’ after CMA rules six major banks fulfil requirements January 12, 2023 Open banking has entered a “new phase” after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) determined that the six largest banks in the UK have implemented the requirements of the open banking roadmap. The open banking trustee advised the CMA on Monday that Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander had implemented the remaining roadmap items. [...]
UK class-action lawsuits against Google, Apple and Sony see value of competition claims surge to £26bn January 9, 2023 The value of UK competition class-actions surged last year, according to new data published today, following the filing of a series of multi-billion-pound claims against some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Apple, Google and Sony. The value of class-action lawsuits filed in the UK over claims around anti-competitive behaviour surged six-fold over the [...]
Competition regulator appoints interim CEO to permanent role December 19, 2022 The Competition and Markets Authority has appointed its interim CEO to a permanent role. Business Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that Sarah Cardell will take over at the regulator immediately, having been running it since July following Andrea Coscelli’s departure. Cardell, who has 20 years of experience in the competition and consumer enforcement was previously general [...]