Archive for the 'News' Category
The Canadian Law and Economics Association has announced a call for papers for its next Annual Meeting on September 28 and 29, 2012. The deadline for submission of papers is July 1, 2012.
From the Canadian Law and Economics Association:
“You are invited to submit a paper for presentation at the next Annual Meeting of the Canadian Law and Economics Association to be held on Friday and Saturday, September 28 and 29, at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. Professor Richard A. Epstein, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law and the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, will deliver the Jim Tory Law and Economics Public Lecture on, “Rate Regulation and Network Industries,” as well a keynote address at dinner on the same topic. As in past years, we are soliciting papers in all areas of law and economics.”
On March 22, 2012, the Competition Bureau announced that as part of its March Fraud Prevention Month efforts, it was joining forces with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) to “warn potential immigrants to be wary of websites claiming to be, or to be affiliated with, official Government of Canada websites.”
In making the announcement, the Bureau said:
“These websites, which sometimes use the Canada wordmark or CIC logo without permission to target individuals wishing to live in Canada, purport to offer special immigration deals or guaranteed high-paying jobs for a fee. Unfortunately, these claims are fraudulent and the victim loses his or her money with no tangible results.
The only people who may charge a fee to represent or advise people in connection with a Canadian immigration proceeding or application are authorized immigration consultants, lawyers, Quebec notaries, and paralegals regulated by a law society. Under Canada’s immigration programs, all people are treated equally, whether they hire someone to represent them or not.”
As part of this new joint effort, the Bureau and CIC are offering tips to potential new citizens to avoid falling victim to fraud – see: here.
The National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association has announced a call for submissions for its annual James H. Bocking Memorial Award.
From the CBA:
“The CBA National Competition Law Section James H. Bocking Award was established by the National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association to honour annually the best scholarly paper submitted to the Section on a subject relating directly to Canadian competition law or policy.”
The Antitrust Law Section of the American Bar Association has announced an interesting upcoming teleconference on APEC’s new Cross Border Privacy Rules System entitled “Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation: Cross Border Privacy Rules Introduction and Spotlight on Canada”. The ABA’s teleconference will be held on April 16, 2012.
Speakers will include Daniele Chatelois from Industry Canada (Chair of the APEC Data Privacy Subgroup) and Josh Harris from the U.S. Department of Commerce (Vice-Chair of the APEC Data Privacy Subgroup).
On March 21, 2012, the Competition Bureau announced that it had launched a new publication entitled: The Little Black Book of Scams.
In making the announcement, as part of its March Fraud Prevention Month efforts, the Bureau said:
“As part of Fraud Prevention Month, the Competition Bureau is launching The Little Black Book of Scams, a compact and easy to use reference guide filled with information Canadians can use to protect themselves against a variety of common scams.
While Fraud Prevention Month is nearing its end, consumers and businesses can consult The Little Black Book of Scams year-round to avoid falling victim to Internet scams, fake lotteries, romance scams, and many other schemes used to defraud Canadians of their money or personal information.
The booklet offers information on how these scams work, how to recognize them, as well as practical tips on how consumers can protect themselves. It also debunks common myths about scams, provides contact information for reporting a scam to the correct authority, and offers a step-by-step guide for scam victims to reduce their losses and avoid becoming repeat victims.”
Earlier this month, on March 5, 2012, the CRTC finalized its Regulations under Canada’s pending federal anti-spam legislation (the “Anti-spam Act”).
On March 20, 2012 the Competition Bureau announced that Canadian Tire Corporation, Pioneer Energy LP and Mr. Gas pleaded guilty in Ontario Superior Court in Brockville, Ontario to fixing the price of gasoline in 2007 at the pump and were fined $2 million.
In making the announcement, the Bureau said:
“’Consumers in Kingston and Brockville were denied a competitive price for gasoline as a result of this criminal price-fixing cartel,’ said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. ‘The Bureau will not hesitate to take action when it uncovers evidence of illegal price-fixing.’
The pleas are as follows: Pioneer Energy LP pleaded guilty to price-fixing in Kingston and Brockville, and was fined $985,000; Canadian Tire Corporation pleaded guilty to price-fixing in Kingston and Brockville, and was fined $900,000; and Mr. Gas pleaded guilty to price-fixing in Brockville and was fined $150,000.
Today’s criminal charges and guilty pleas are the result of an extensive Bureau investigation that found evidence that gas retailers or their representatives in these local markets phoned each other and agreed on the price they would charge customers for gasoline. The Bureau’s investigation into potential price-fixing in the retail gasoline market continues in the Southeastern Ontario market.”
Under section 45 of the Competition Act, three types of agreements between competitors are “per se” illegal (i.e., with no adverse competitive impacts required to be shown):
1. Price-fixing agreements. Agreements to fix, maintain, increase or control the price for the supply of a product.
2. Market allocation/division agreements. Agreements to allocate sales, territories, customers or markets for the production or supply of a product.
3. Output/supply restriction agreements. Agreements to fix, maintain, control, prevent, lessen or eliminate the production or supply of a product (which may include group boycotts).
UBS disclosed earlier today in its 2011 Annual Report that the Competition Bureau has granted it conditional immunity in relation to the ongoing global LIBOR price-fixing investigation:
“The Canadian Competition Bureau has granted UBS conditional immunity in connection with potential competition law violations related to submissions for Yen LIBOR. As a result of these conditional grants, we will not be subject to prosecutions, fines or other sanctions for antitrust or competition law violations in the jurisdictions where we have conditional immunity or leniency in connection with the matters we reported to those authorities, subject to our continuing cooperation. However, the conditional leniency and conditional immunity grants we have received do not bar government agencies from asserting other claims against us. In addition, as a result of the conditional leniency agreement with the DOJ, we are eligible for a limit on liability to actual rather than treble damages were damages to be awarded in any civil antitrust action under US law based on conduct covered by the agreement and for relief from potential joint-and-several liability in connection with such civil antitrust action, subject to our satisfying the DOJ and the court presiding over the civil litigation of our cooperation. The conditional leniency and conditional immunity grants do not otherwise affect the ability of private parties to assert civil claims against us.”
In Canada, the Competition Bureau has established formal Immunity and Leniency programs, under which companies or individuals that may have been involved in cartel (e.g, price-fixing) or other criminal conduct under the Competition Act may, if all conditions are satisfied, receive full immunity from prosecution or reductions in fines for cooperating with a Bureau investigation.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
