Our Response to the UK Department for Business and Trade’s Consultation on Refining the UK’s Competition Regime

Cleary Gottlieb’s Competition team has submitted its response to the UK Department for Business and Trade’s consultation, Refining our competition regime.

Our response sets out our views on four key areas:

• Decision-making reform: We broadly support the shift to Board sub-committees but recommend a full merits appeal standard, expanded Procedural Officer role, and robust independent expert representation as important safeguards.
• Markets regime: We welcome a single-phase market review tool but oppose the proposed shift to an “adverse effect on consumers” test — the existing Adverse Effect on Competition test should be retained.
• Merger jurisdiction: The proposals to close the open-ended share of supply and material influence criteria are directionally correct but do not go far enough to improve predictability for businesses. We recommend requiring an acquisition of at least a 25% shareholding or voting rights to establish material influence, and removing the “number of workers” and “price” criteria from the share of supply test.
• Algorithm investigation powers: The proposed extension of enhanced information-gathering powers to wider competition functions is disproportionate and unjustified — the CMA’s existing powers are sufficient.

Read our full response here.