Archive for the 'Competition Law' Category
A claim against two major real estate boards and their executives for breaching terms of an earlier settlement agreement, common law and Competition Act conspiracy and certain economic torts survived a motion to dismiss last week. The reasons for judgment provide insight into the sufficiency of pleadings in cases involving allegations of anti-competitive conspiracies against businesses and their executives.
Last Friday, Mr. Justice Kenneth L. Campbell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion by the defendants in Dale v. The Toronto Real Estate Board to dismiss Realtysellers (Ontario) Limited’s (“Realtysellers”) action against The Canadian Real Estate Board (“CREA”), The Toronto Real Estate Board (“TREB”) and 47 other defendants (for a copy of the decision see: Dale v. The Toronto Real Estate Board).
FEBRUARY 1-3, 2012 – Vancouver
The Antitrust Law Section of the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association (IBA) will be holding their bi-annual International Cartel Workshop in Vancouver from February 1-3, 2012 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
From the American Bar Association:
“The International Cartel Workshop, recognized globally as the premier international cartel program offered anywhere, is presented only once every two years. The next Workshop, which will have many new features, will be held in Vancouver, Canada during February 1-3, 2012. The 2012 program will continue the Workshop’s tradition of instruction by demonstration, with experienced faculty from around the globe taking you inside a hypothetical international cartel matter — from detection by government enforcers to the disposition of government prosecutions and private damage claims. The Workshop will also highlight new developments in the law and leniency practices around the world, with leading enforcers and experienced private practitioners demonstrating how critical decisions are made on both sides of the table and providing examples of important interactions between counsel and enforcers. The 2012 Workshop’s international faculty includes many of the most accomplished cartel attorneys in the world, as well as the most senior cartel enforcement officials from a variety of jurisdictions.”
For more information about the joint ABA/IBA Cartel Workshop see:
American Bar Association – Antitrust International Cartel Workshop
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Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal and others reported yesterday that Maple Group Acquisition Corp., composed of 13 Canadian financial institutions, will once again extend its Cdn. $3.73 billion mixed cash and shares offer for the TMX Group beyond the previous January 31st deadline if regulatory approvals are not received.
Maple’s offer to acquire the TMX is subject to approval from provincial securities regulators and the federal Competition Bureau, which initiated a second-stage review with the Commissioner of Competition announcing in November, 2011 that the Bureau had “serious concerns” about the transaction.
Some of the potential issues the transaction raises include a high degree of consolidation in the trading services market and issues based on access and pricing of clearing and settlement services, as the transaction would also include the acquisition of CDS Inc., Canada’s currently not-for-profit equity and fixed-income clearing operator.
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Gibson Dunn has published a very fine and detailed summary of U.S. and global criminal antitrust developments in 2011 (2011 Year-End Criminal Antitrust Update).
From Gibson Dunn:
“The Department of Justice obtained more than $1 billion in FY 2011 from criminal antitrust offenders, the second-highest amount in its history. The total payments consist of an estimated $523 million in criminal fines and more than $500 million in restitution, penalties, and disgorgement paid to state and federal agencies. This staggering amount represents an increase of more than 78% from FY 2010 and sends a clear message to the corporate world that DOJ’s zealous pursuit of large fines for collusive conduct continues unabated.
Another important measure of success for the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division also significantly advanced in FY 2011; the number of criminal cases filed increased 50% to 90 cases, which included 27 corporations and 82 individuals–each category significantly higher than in FY 2010.
Despite these achievements for the Antitrust Division, other metrics revealed significant year-over-year declines in FY 2011. Most notably, several statistics relating to incarceration of antitrust defendants reached multi-year lows: the number of individuals sentenced to prison decreased 28% to just 21 defendants, the length of the average prison sentence fell 44% to 17 months, and the total prison time imposed on defendants dropped 60% to 10,544 days. …
Given the Antitrust Division’s numerous ongoing investigations–a number of which involve large, complex, international cartel matters that have not yet been announced publicly–we expect 2012 to be another banner year in criminal antitrust enforcement. …”
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We are pleased to provide this global competition update, with a focus on Asia Pacific, from our friends at Rajah Tann in Singapore.
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Happy New Year! Welcome to our refreshed Competition Review 2012, which presents an overview of developments in competition laws from around the world in the past few months, with a focus on ASEAN and Asia. This issue covers developments, which have occurred in the second half of 2011 that may interest you.
Each of the decisions and studies discussed below is intended to give you a flavor of the issues in the competition and anti-trust scene so that, when you review your business activities, structure new deals or make acquisitions, you have these issues at the back of your mind and provide for them. For ease of convenience we have organized our Competition Review into three sections – anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance and mergers.
We set out below some of the key principles that emerge from the cases discussed below:
(a) co-operating with competition authorities for a speedy resolution may help reduce penalties (see EU: European Commission (‘Commission’) Fines Producers Of CRT Glass €128 Million In Cartel Settlement);
(b) a competition authority may recommend shareholders to replace their directors or officers if they do not fully cooperate with investigations (see Indonesia: Indonesian Competition Authority KPPU Recommends President Director Be Replaced);
(c) even though a competition authority may not have powers to review mergers, it may investigate the transaction for other anti-competitive aspects (see Malaysia: Malaysia Competition Commission (‘MYCC’) To Investigate Air Asia-Malaysian Airlines (‘MAS’), Share Swap And Collaborative Agreement);
(d) exchanging information between competitors through a third party, such as software service providers, may lead to a violation of competition laws if the exchange is of sensitive information (see UK: Motor Insurers Agree To Limit Data Exchange And Provide Commitments to the Office Of Fair Trading (‘OFT’)); and
(e) not all jurisdictions, where merging parties have presence, will require merger notification. Undertakings with large presence in one jurisdiction may not have sufficiently significant presence in other jurisdictions that crosses notification triggers (see Indonesia: Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Skype Does Not Need Notification).
CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS
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.
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Promotional contests in Canada are largely governed by the Competition Act, the Criminal Code, privacy legislation and the common law of contract. In addition, Quebec has a separate regulatory regime governing contests and contest authority (the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux). Canada’s federal anti-spam legislation (CASL) also commonly applies to Canadian contests and other promotions (see below).
On January 6, 2012, the Competition Bureau announced that two companies pleaded guilty of fixing the price of polyurethane foam and were fined a total of $12.5 million (see: Competition Bureau Sends Signal to Price-Fixers with $12.5 Million Fine).
In making the announcement, the Bureau said:
“’Yesterday’s guilty plea is the first conviction under Canada’s amended conspiracy law,’ said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. ‘This investigation highlights the Bureau’s reinvigorated mandate to stop consumer harm caused by price-fixing, and to secure significant fines for these serious criminal offences.’
The charges are the first to arise from the Bureau’s investigation into price-fixing cartel in the polyurethane foam industry. Anyone with information relating to this investigation is encouraged to contact the Competition Bureau.
The Bureau’s investigation benefitted from cooperation under the Bureau’s Immunity and Leniency Programs, which create incentives for parties to address their criminal liability by cooperating with the Bureau in its ongoing investigation and prosecution of other alleged cartel participants.
Under the Competition Act, an agreement between competitors to fix prices, allocate markets or restrict output in Canada is a criminal offence. In March 2010, amendments to the conspiracy provision of the Act came into force.”
On January 4, 2012, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it filed complaints against three of the largest U.S. suppliers of ductile iron pipe fittings for an alleged price-fixing cartel.
The FTC is also alleging that parties used a trade association (the Ductile Iron Fittings Research Association) to exchange information and monitor adherence to the cartel agreement.
See: FTC Action Protects Competition in Market for Iron Pipe Fittings Used in Municipal Water Systems
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
