Rangers, Hummel and JD Sports probed by competition watchdog over replica kit pricing December 16, 2020 Scottish football club Rangers are being probed by the UK competition watchdog over the pricing of their replica kits. The Competition and Markets Authority is also investigating Rangers’ former kit maker Hummel and retailers JD Sports and Greaves Sports. The CMA said it’s probe centred on “suspected anti-competitive behaviour in relation to the price at [...]
CMA investigating airlines over lack of refunds for cancelled flights December 16, 2020 The UK’s competition watchdog has announced that it will investigate the country’s airlines over their failure to offer refunds to customers who could not fly due to the pandemic. As a result of travel restrictions due to coronavirus, thousands of passengers have had their flights cancelled over the course of the year. Consumer groups have [...]
Competition watchdog refers O2-Virgin merger for in-depth investigation December 11, 2020 The UK competition regulator has referred the £31bn O2-Virgin merger for in-depth investigation. Liberty Global and Telefonica, the respective owners of Virgin Media and O2, struck a deal to merge their UK operations back in May. Last month the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched its phase one investigation into the mega-merger, arguing the potential [...]
City regulator confirms mini-bond marketing ban December 10, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority has today confirmed its permanent ban on the marketing of mini-bonds to retail investors amid concerns over losses. It comes after a series of scandals involving unregulated bonds, including the collapse of London Capital & Finance (LCF) last year. The confirmation follows a temporary ban introduced in January after the regulator [...]
Facebook facing multiple lawsuits that could splinter the tech firm and render acquisitions illegal December 9, 2020 The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and nearly every US state have sued Facebook today, saying that it broke antitrust law and should potentially be broken up. In its complaint, the coalition of 46 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam also asked for Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp to be judged to be illegal. The [...]
CMA launches probe into billionaire brothers’ takeover of Asda December 8, 2020 The UK’s competition regulator has launched its stage one probe into the billionaire Issa brothers’ takeover of supermarket Asda. Back in October the brothers, along with private equity group TDR Capital, agreed to buy the grocer from US giant Walmart for £6.8bn. At the time, Walmart said that it expected the deal to be subject [...]
Mark Zuckerberg ‘threatened to pull UK investment’ in meeting with Matt Hancock December 8, 2020 Mark Zuckerberg reportedly threatened to pull Facebook’s investment from the UK in a meeting with Matt Hancock amid a regulation row. Secret minutes from a meeting in 2018, obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, reveal Hancock, who was the Culture Secretary at the time, offered a “new beginning” for the government’s relationship with the [...]
The CMA sets out new regime for tech giants such as Google and Facebook December 8, 2020 The CMA sets out new regime for tech giants such as Google and Facebook
EU regulators to clear London Stock Exchange’s $27bn Refinitiv deal December 2, 2020 EU competition regulators are reportedly set to clear London Stock Exchange’s $27bn (£20.3bn) takeover of Refinitiv. LSE last month offered to provide rivals with access to clearing and data for 10 years as part of its bid to win over antitrust authorities. It came as part of a package submitted to the European Commission that [...]
CMA to examine electric vehicle sector December 2, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching a market study into electric vehicle charging, following the government’s move to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2030. The study will focus on the supply of chargepoints for plug-in hybrid and all-electric ‘passenger’ electric vehicles, comprising cars and light vans. The move [...]