Term
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Definition
| They deal with competition law |
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Term
| What are some of their informal powers? |
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Definition
If CMA has a reason to suspect there is a infringement of competition law they can:
- set up face to face meetings
- telephone calls
- written correspondence |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| What happens if you fail to comply with CMA's powers? |
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Definition
- they can enter your premise by force
- loss of reputation
- loss of customer and public confidence
- issues of privilege |
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Term
| What are the rules on disclosure |
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Definition
- derived from Akzo case which established rules on correspondence between in house and external lawyers
in house lawyers - documents are not privileged and EC will be able to see it
external lawyers qualified outside EEA - documents are not privileged
external lawyers qualified inside EEA - documents are privileged
necessary to establish who is carrying out the investigation and on what basis |
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Term
| Which privilege statutes are applicable depending on how the investigation is carried out? |
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Definition
- if EC is carrying out the investigation itself or with the assistance of CMA, then the akzo case applies
- if CMA is carrying out the investigation itself, then s 30 CA applies
- if CMA is carrying out the investigation at the request of EC, then s 65A applies |
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Term
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Definition
| Any companies listed in the stock market will need to disclose dawn raids or regulatory investigations |
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Term
| What are the consequences of failure to co-operate with the CMA/EC's investigations? |
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Definition
| May impose fines of up to 10% of the groups annual worldwide turnover |
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Term
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Definition
| they are unannounced inspections that usually takes places during business hours |
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Term
| What practical steps should be taken during an inspection? |
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Definition
1) When the investigatory team arrives:
- appoint a nominated person to deal with the regulatory disputes
- seek legal advice as this can delay the search
- inspect the search warrant - does it entitle the search team to do what they are proposing?
2) During the search:
- suspend document creation/destruction
- if search team is permitted entry, have at least one employee accompanying them
- take a note of the copies of documents taken by the search team
- in the event of a dispute concerning privilege - place documents in a sealed envelope. EC will then follow the 'sealed envelope procedure' which they will choose to inspect or not inspect the documents |
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