Introduction
"Merger control has seen a number of developments in 2020, some related to the repercussions of the covid-19 pandemic..."
Australia
"The past year has been an interesting one for Australian merger control and has seen merger activity levels comparable to the previous period despite the impact of the covid-19 pandemic..."
Brazil
"Over the past year, the Brazilian authority (Administrative Council of Economic Defence, or CADE) has continued to be very active on the merger front..."
China
"There have been three key merger control developments in the past year that are most worthy of attention..."
Czech Republic
"The Czech Competition Office (the Office) successfully applied an upward referral in one case. This is rather rare, as the Office does not have a history of..."
Denmark
"On 1 January 2018, an amendment to the Danish Competition Act entered into force. The amendment, inter alia, introduced a ‘stop the clock’ provision, which allows..."
European Union
"Friday 13 March 2020 was the last day children went to school in Brussels, the seat of most European institutions, including the..."
France
"A quick look at the year 2019 shows that the French Competition Authority (FCA) has been very active with 270 authorisation decisions, nine of which have been..."
Germany
"The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) reviewed approximately 1,400 transactions in 2019 – slightly more than in 2018 – and entered into in-depth (Phase II) investigations in..."
Greece
"From January 2019 until September 2020, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) has reviewed 27 notified transactions and launched five in-depth..."
Indonesia
"In terms of merger control, it is important to highlight that the Indonesia Competition Commission (KPPU) has the jurisdiction to assess both the onshore and..."
Italy
"According to the report on the activities of Italian Antitrust Authority (IAA) in 2019, which was presented to the Italian parliament in April 2020, during the past year..."
Japan
"During FY 2019 (1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020), the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) released its clearest guidance yet on merger control in Japan..."
Mexico
"One of the aspects that our firm has insisted on for years is that in mergers that could generate risks to economic competition, the Federal Commission for Economic Competition..."
Norway
"The Norwegian Competition Authority (the Authority) only blocked one merger and cleared one merger subject to commitments in 2019..."
Poland
"The most important development is the increased focus on procedural infringements, a trend that has also been visible in other jurisdictions, in particular the EU..."
Russia
"The year 2019 was not marked by any specific significant transactions reviewed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS)..."
Slovakia
"Although the deal flow has certainly been affected by the covid-19 situation, resulting in the notification of a significantly lower number of transactions in 2020 so far..."
South Korea
"According to a press release by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), 766 mergers were reviewed in 2019, an increase of 64 cases compared to 2018..."
Sweden
"Overall, the past year has been rather calm from a Swedish merger control perspective, with 74 notified mergers to the Swedish Competition Authority (SCA)..."
Switzerland
"The current substantive dominance test (qualified dominance) makes it difficult for the competition authorities to prohibit mergers..."
Taiwan
"Merger control in Taiwan is regulated under the Fair Trade Act, under which the competent authority for antitrust matters is the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC)..."
Thailand
"The Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) is a young and ambitious regulator. It is encouraging to see Thai competition law finally being enforced..."
Turkey
"The regulatory developments in Turkey are still an ongoing process in terms of merger control. Indeed, in 2017, the Turkish Competition Authority (the Authority) introduced..."
Ukraine
"Last year, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMC) continued aligning Ukrainian competition laws, including merger control rules, with the best European practices..."
United Kingdom
"There have been several interesting developments in merger control in the UK over the past year. These developments include cases where the CMA has..."
United States
"The antitrust agencies were active in merger enforcement in 2019 and 2020, similar to recent years, despite the covid-19 pandemic..."
Vietnam
"On 1 July 2019, the Competition Law 2018 (Law No. 23/2018/QH14) officially took effect, replacing its 14-year-old predecessor and marking the introduction of..."