by Kevin Coates | Oct 20, 2013 | Antitrust, Commentary, Featured, Mistakes the Other Side Make
The [other side] always gets things wrong; if only the [other side] could make fewer mistakes, or be more trustworthy, or more open, then everything would move along more easily. This is a common feeling among those who work on competition cases (and pretty much...
by Kevin Coates | Oct 2, 2013 | Commentary, Featured
Not all Commission decisions have the same value. For any particular point of law or economic analysis, some are more valuable precedents than others. Merger control provides a good example. Phase one merger decisions are not necessarily reliable when it comes to...
by Kevin Coates | Oct 2, 2013 | Cartels, General
Two excellent colleagues – one of whom is DG Competition’s Settlement Officer – have written an overview of the current state of settlement practice for cartel cases. Abstract: Since 2008, six cartel settlements have been concluded successfully In...
by Kevin Coates | Oct 1, 2013 | Antitrust, Featured, Procedure
Electronic documents change the way competition authorities search for documents when carrying out inspections. But that doesn’t mean that companies are worse off than before. In days past Commission officials on inspections occasionally found lever arch files...
by Kevin Coates | Oct 6, 2011 | Commentary, Featured, Procedure
“Does the defence have anything to say in mitigation?” “Yes, my lord. Before robbing this bank, my client walked past three others, repeating to himself, ‘I must not rob banks.’ So he would like his sentence for robbing the fourth bank...
by Kevin Coates | Sep 6, 2011 | Antitrust, Commentary, Featured, Fines
The European Commission levies high fines on companies that break the competition rules. Some of those companies argue that the fines are now too high. So what is too high? If a company breaks the competition rule prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements or the...
