Competition watchdog set to block £140m Seedrs and Crowdcube merger March 24, 2021 The competition watchdog has provisionally blocked the planned £140m merger between Seedrs and Crowdcube over concerns it would lead to less choice and higher fees. The two crowdfunding platforms announced plans to merge in October, saying the deal would create one of the world’s largest private equity marketplaces. But following an in-depth investigation, the Competition [...]
Anti-virus firm Norton taken to court amid competition investigation March 23, 2021 The UK competition watchdog is taking anti-virus software firm Norton to court after it refused to provide information relating to an ongoing investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has identified concerns that Norton’s practices for automatically renewing contracts result in customers paying for services they no longer want or need. It asked the company [...]
Gut instinct and social media drives young people to risky investment decisions, warns FCA March 23, 2021 The financial watchdog has warned that young people are increasingly engaging with risky investments like foreign exchange and cryptocurrency, despite not having the capacity for loss if the investment goes wrong. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) research found nearly two-thirds (59%) of young investors claimed that a significant investment loss would have a fundamental impact [...]
CMA set to approve Viagogo’s £3.2bn takeover of StubHub March 22, 2021 The mega-deal between ticket reselling giants Viagogo and StubHub is heading for approval, after the companies reached a preliminary deal with the Competition and Markets Authority. The watchdog said earlier today it “proposes to accept” a series of promises from the companies, which would include selling off StubHub’s international arm. Viagogo’s £3.2bn deal to take [...]
CMA investigates publisher Penguin’s $2.2bn takeover of Simon & Schuster March 22, 2021 The competition watchdog is investigating if the $2.18bn takeover of Simon & Schuster by publisher Penguin Random House may hurt competition. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has until 19 May to decide whether to refer the merger to a more in-depth ‘phase two’ investigation, A spokesperson for Penguin Random House said: “We announced last November that Penguin Random [...]
Visa ‘facing US investigation’ over debit card practices March 19, 2021 Visa is said to be facing a regulatory investigation in the US over concerns it is engaging in anti-competitive practices in the debit card market. The US Department of Justice has been looking at whether Visa limited merchants’ ability to route transactions over card networks that are often less expensive, the Wall Street Journal reported. [...]
CMA orders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside to remove ground rents in rental contracts March 19, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority said this morning it has instructed homebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside Properties to remove certain contract terms that require leaseholders to pay ground rents which double every decade. The CMA said these terms could affect the property rights of the firms’ customers. Moreover, “as this increase is built into contracts, it means [...]
Google plan to block cookies ‘under scrutiny’ from US regulators March 18, 2021 Google’s plan to scrap web-tracking advertising tools known as cookies is said to have attracted scrutiny from US regulators amid concerns the move could harm smaller rivals. The search engine giant has unveiled proposals to block cookies in its Chrome browser in an effort to increase user privacy. But the plans have stirred up anger [...]
Watchdog slams rule-breaking influencers over ‘unacceptable’ social media ads March 18, 2021 The UK advertising watchdog has ramped up the pressure on social media influencers over their continued failure to mark posts as adverts. Under the current rules online stars are required to clearly state when their posts are sponsored or when a brand has provided them with free products. But a three-week monitoring exercise carried out [...]
Water bills: CMA settles long-running price controls dispute March 17, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today published its findings on the price controls for four water companies for 2020-2025. The group set a headline rate of return to investors of 3.2 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent in the previous price control period. It said the return is the minimum that is sufficient [...]