Archive for the 'Amendments' Category
September 27, 2010
The Competition Bureau announced today that it has issued its new Bulletin on “Regulated” Conduct (see: “Regulated” Conduct Bulletin). This new Bulletin outlines the Bureau’s current approach to the enforcement of the Competition Act where conduct may be regulated by other valid provincial or federal legislation (potentially subject to the “regulated conduct defence” or “RCD”).
September 24, 2010
Earlier today, the Competition Bureau announced that it was participating, together with members of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), in a joint Internet advertising sweep, focused on fraudulent and deceptive advertising on social media sites.
September 1, 2010
We are pleased to announce that our recent note on the CREA abuse of dominance case (“The CREA Abuse of Dominance Case: Competition Bureau Challenges Organized Real Estate in Canada”) was published today in Competition Policy International’s Antitrust Chronicle (Canadian edition). For a link to the note and other Canadian competition/antitrust law notes published by Competition Policy International, see: Competition Policy International – Antitrust Chronicle – Canada Edition.
August 25, 2010
The 2010 Canadian Bar Association Annual Competition Law Fall Conference will be held from September 30 to October 1, 2010 in Gatineau, Quebec.
June 14, 2010
CONSPIRACY / CARTELS
Recent Speech by Canada’s Commissioner of Competition Indicates Tougher Enforcement Stance Against Criminal Cartels
In a recent speech by Canada’s new Commissioner of Competition to the Canadian Bar Association’s Spring Competition Law Conference, the Commissioner outlined some of the Competition Bureau’s current enforcement and policy priorities following the recent significant amendments to Canada’s competition law. The Commissioner’s remarks included a number of comments regarding the Competition Bureau’s (the “Bureau”) enforcement policy in relation to the new criminal conspiracy rules, enforcement priorities, the Bureau’s new sentencing and leniency policies and, of particular note, indicating that the Bureau wants to take a tougher stance against criminal cartels (including seeking increased penalties against individuals involved in criminal cartel conduct). For more see: Recent Speech by Canada’s Commissioner of Competition Indicates Tougher Enforcement Stance Against Criminal Cartels.
April 15, 2010
Overview
New criminal conspiracy provisions recently came into force in Canada, in March, 2010, as a result of sweeping amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”) last year.
March 8, 2010
Canada’s new criminal conspiracy rules will come into force Friday March 12, 2010. The changes, which are the final recent Competition Act amendments to come into force, will significantly change the enforcement of criminal cartels in Canada and is expected to also have significant impacts on competition law private actions and class actions. Effective Friday, Canada will have three new criminal conspiracy offences for “hard core” cartel conduct, making bare price fixing, market allocation/division and supply restriction agreements per se illegal – i.e., without the necessity of establishing any anti-competitive effects on a relevant market (or markets). The penalties for contravening the conspiracy provisions will also more than double with fines of up to CDN $25 million and/or imprisonment for up to fourteen years.
February 20, 2010
OVERVIEW
Sweeping amendments to Canada’s federal Competition Act (the “Act”) were recently passed that are the most significant changes to Canadian competition law in twenty-five years. Included are changes to most of the cornerstone provisions of the Act including to the criminal conspiracy, bid rigging, criminal pricing, price maintenance, abuse of dominance, misleading advertising and merger notification provisions.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
