McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall was quoted in a June 19, 2020, Financial Times article about alleged COVID-19 price profiteering by retailers.
Titled “UK retailers face probe into Covid price profiteering,” the article noted that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition watchdog, launched an investigation into potential profiteering from items deemed essential during the pandemic, including masks and groceries, but especially hand sanitizers. The CMA received 21,000 complaints between March 10 and April 19 alone related to COVID-19 price increases, FT reported.
The investigation marks the CMA’s first intervention into alleged pandemic-related excessive pricing or price gouging, according to Hall, a member of the firm’s Antitrust, Trade & Commercial Litigation Department. “This looks like a warning shot to small retailers with a dominant position in local areas,” he said.