Archive for the 'Compliance' Category
October 31, 2014
This is the second of three posts with our conference materials from the recent Canadian Society of Association Executives’ (CSAE) Annual Conference in Niagara (for the first post see below). I presented with Mark Katz from Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto. This post discusses competition law issues that can arise in the context of association codes of ethics, some recent key cases and best practices to minimize risk in relation to association codes.
September 24, 2014
Canada’s Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) has been working over the past year or two to update its competition law compliance guidelines and policies. Competition law compliance has also figured prominently in recent remarks by Canada’s new Commissioner of Competition, John Pecman (see for example: here). As part of the Bureau’s initiative to raise competition compliance awareness, on September 18th the Bureau issued a revised draft Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin for public comment (see: here and here).
September 21, 2014
Most association activities are legitimate and unlikely to raise competition law concerns. However, given that many, if not most, trade and professional association activities involve the direct interaction of competitors, it is prudent for association executives, staff and their advisors to take practical steps to reduce potential competition law risk.
September 11, 2014
Well summer is certainly over. The weather is distinctly cooler and “fall-like” and in the competition/antitrust law world the number of cases and antitrust agency activity is increasing again. In this respect, one interesting case that caught my eye earlier today was a German trade association case in which the German antitrust agency (the Bundeskartellamt) announced that it has imposed 6.2 million euros in further fines for alleged price-fixing by members of a concrete paving stone association and association executive (see: Bundeskartellamt imposes further fines on manufacturers of concrete paving stones on account of price-fixing agreements).
September 8, 2014
In an interesting case that caught my eye earlier today, the U.S. FTC announced a proposed settlement with Texas-based Applied Food Sciences Inc. (AFS) in relation to allegedly “baseless” green coffee extract weight loss claims.
August 24, 2014
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has proposed settlements in two cases involving professional associations and codes of ethics that the FTC alleged violated U.S. antitrust laws (the FTC Act) (see: here). In these two cases, involving the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) and National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the associations agreed to remove provisions in their codes of ethics that, according to the FTC, limited competition among members and raised antitrust law concerns.
July 22, 2014
Guest post
(Steve J. Cernak, Gregory L. Curtner, William M. Hannay – Schiff Hardin)
FTC Action Shows All Commissioners Agree That Section 5 Liability Can Follow Competitor Communications On Price Even When No Agreement Is Reached
Do you need contest rules/precedents
for a Canadian contest?
We offer many types of Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents and forms (i.e., Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents to run common types of contests in Canada). These include precedents for random draw contests (i.e., where winners are chosen by random draw), skill contests (e.g., essay, photo or other types of contests where entrants submit content that is judged to enter the contest or for additional entries), trip contests and more. Also available are individual Canadian contest/sweepstakes precedents, including short rules (“mini-rules”), long rules, winner releases and a Canadian contest law checklist. For more information or to order, see: Canadian Contest Law Forms/Precedents. If you would like to discuss legal advice in relation to your contest or other promotion, contact us: Contact.
******************
In Canada, “competition law” overlaps with advertising and marketing law. One of the reasons for this is because the federal Competition Act in Canada includes a number of advertising and marketing law sections, including some specific provisions relating to promotional contests. (Though of course contests in Canada can involve a number of other areas of law including: contract law, the Criminal Code, privacy law, intellectual property law and now Canada’s recently in force anti-spam law – CASL.)
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
