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The United Kingdom’s competition regulator is responding to pressure from the government and imposing fewer conditions on proposed mergers, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall said in a recently published LexisNexis report. The report analyzed data from parallel merger investigations carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission since the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec. 31, 2020. It found that most parallel cases have led to consistent …

The United Kingdom’s new law regulating digital markets will also greatly enhance the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s powers to enforce consumer protection laws, including new and reinforced rules on publishing and facilitating the publication of fake reviews, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall told Compliance Week in a Feb. 24, 2025, story. Hall, an antitrust lawyer and member of McGuireWoods’ Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department, said compliance officers need to be …

The United Kingdom’s new law regulating competition in digital markets gives the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) significant powers to regulate Big Tech “up front” and control companies’ behavior, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall told Compliance Week in a Feb. 4, 2025, story. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the digital markets and competition parts of which went into effect Jan. 1, lets the CMA intervene earlier to confront anticompetitive behavior by …

McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall discussed the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) use of warning and advisory letters to encourage compliance with antitrust/competition law, in a Nov. 19, 2024, Law360 article. Hall explored the implications of these letters for businesses and the CMA’s recent introduction of heat maps to increase transparency. “Although receipt of one of these letters from the CMA does not necessarily mean there has been an …

McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall shared insights in a Nov. 8, 2024, Equity Report article regarding the ongoing merger control review of Synopsys’ proposed $35 billion acquisition of engineering simulation software provider Ansys. The China State Administration for Market Regulation is expected to require behavioral remedies tailored to the Chinese market as a condition for approving the deal. The transaction is under scrutiny from competition authorities in other jurisdictions as well. Hall highlighted the extensive …

The UK government should present a clear and consistent message on the role the Competition and Markets Authority plays in driving growth and innovation, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a Nov. 14, 2024, article in The Times. Hall cited the disconnect between remarks made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the government’s recent international Investment Summit and a draft of the government’s strategy document, “Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern …

… member of McGuireWoods’ Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department. “However, there remain many pitfalls in EU merger control.”

The European Commission, which has launched its first in-depth investigation under the European Union’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), may require commitments to address competition concerns, setting a precedent for future FSR-related cases, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in an Aug. 19, 2024, Law360 article. The investigation concerns the proposed acquisition of PPF Telecom Group B.V. by Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC (e&), a UAE state-controlled telecom operator. The FSR …

The European Commission (EC) considers deleting messages exchanged via social media apps during a dawn raid to be obstruction and a serious breach of EU competition law, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a July 29, 2024, Law360 article. On June 24, 2024, the EC announced a fine of €15.9 million against International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) when an employee was found to have intentionally deleted WhatsApp messages after he had been informed of …

The European Commission and national regulators in the European Union remain committed to preventing companies from illegally restricting trade in the EU, regardless of whether they operate in traditional manufacturing industries or only sell digital goods, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a July 8, 2024, Law360 article. Both the rules on agreements and unilateral abuse of dominance are applied. On May 23, 2024, the commission fined Mondelēz International Inc. €337.5 million for …

When law firms give clients competition compliance training, they must remember that they are still bound by their professional obligations, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall told Global Competition Review. A recent probe of a cement cartel by France’s Competition Authority provided a cautionary tale for law firms when the French firm Fidal was accused of facilitating the cartel by providing advice aimed at concealing cartel conduct during training courses for two companies. The Competition …

Chinese companies have been the main target of the European Union’s crackdown on foreign businesses that get subsidies from their home country’s government, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall said in a May 22, 2024, story in Global Competition Review. A Chinese multinational power company withdrew a bid to build a solar park in Romania after the European Commission said it would launch a probe, under its new Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), into the …

If the United Kingdom is to remain competitive, it needs stronger regulations that protect the country’s companies, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a May 16, 2024, commentary in The Times. “Chinese companies receive nine times more government support than their western counterparts,” he wrote. Meanwhile, “[t]he UK has beefed up its protection of the country’s companies, assets and intellectual property through the National Security and Investment Act. However, that legislation …

Businesses and private practice lawyers are troubled by the breadth and ambiguity of the United Kingdom’s National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NS&I Act) two years after the law took effect, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a March 12, 2024, Westlaw Today article. The NS&I Act significantly strengthened the UK’s foreign direct investment rules when it came into force in January 2022. Against the background of criticism about how …

A recent report criticizing the prosecution records against individuals of the United Kingdom’s main investigatory and enforcement agencies downplays the severity of the sanctions those agencies have imposed, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall told Compliance Week in a Feb. 23, 2024, story. Compliance Week reported that Spotlight on Corruption, a campaign group, published a report finding that agencies including the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the antitrust/competition law regulator, rarely prosecute board-level …

The United Kingdom’s law on screening foreign direct investment casts a wide net over assets with a link to the U.K., often to the surprise of potential acquirers, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a Feb. 15, 2024, commentary in Law360. The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) gave the U.K. government wider scope to intervene in transactions seen as potentially affecting U.K. national security. Hall wrote that …

McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall commented on competition concerns about the artificial intelligence market, for a Sept. 18, 2023, Global Competition Review article.The article discussed a set of guiding principles the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released as an early means of governing AI models to promote strong market competition and protect consumers. In the same report, CMA weighed the likelihood that a few large technology companies and early market entrants could …

McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall commented in an Aug. 17, 2023, Global Competition Review article on the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s final version of its guidelines on the treatment of horizontal cooperation agreements under UK competition/antitrust law. The guidelines, issued Aug. 16, 2023, diverge from the EU on certain types of information exchange and omit a section on sustainability agreements.In February, the CMA issued draft sustainability guidelines under competition law providing …

The United Kingdom’s National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) is effectively blocking and controlling some foreign direct investments that could adversely impact national security, and it should continue to be implemented robustly despite recent criticism from the Chinese government, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in an Aug. 4, 2023, commentary in Investment Monitor.The NSI Act enhanced scrutiny of acquisitions of companies, assets and intellectual property that could adversely impact UK …

Guidance from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) about environmental sustainability agreements between competitors is a good start but needs to go further, McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote in a March 23, 2023, commentary in The Times. “Britain should go Dutch when it comes to environmental sustainability agreements,” Hall wrote. He lauded the CMA’s desire to ensure that competition law doesn’t impede legitimate collaboration between businesses that is necessary …

… attorney general — McGuireWoods’ Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department has represented Fortune 100 companies and individuals in some of the most prominent and complicated criminal, regulatory and investigative matters of the past decade.“Casey’s experience in such a sensitive, high-profile investigation strengthens our deep bench and will have enormous value to clients navigating government enforcement challenges, including congressional inquiries,” said Noreen Kelly, chair of the Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department.Lucier …

McGuireWoods partners Alex Brackett, Patrick Rowan, Jason Cowley, Laura Colombell Marshall and Edwin Childs and associate Elissa Baur contributed to Global Investigations Review’s publication “The Guide to Sanctions ─ Third Edition.” The lawyers wrote the chapter titled “Impacts of Sanctions and Export Controls on Supply Chains,” published July 8, 2022.The updated edition — which expands upon the chapter that Brackett, Rowan and Cowley penned last year for the guide — cited as a key example …

McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall provided comments for a Jan. 14, 2022, Compliance Week article analyzing problems the new UK National Security and Investment Act might present for companies seeking to merge with or acquire businesses or assets that have a connection with the UK.The NSI Act, which went into full effect Jan. 4, puts under scrutiny mergers and acquisitions involving companies or assets that could endanger the UK economy and areas of national …

McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall wrote an article published Oct. 7, 2021, in The Times, opining on the UK government’s decision to suspend the application of competition law to agreements in the fuel distribution sector to alleviate supply shortfalls. A provision of the Competition Act 1998 allows exclusions to the UK law’s general ban on anticompetitive agreements between competitors for “exceptional and compelling reasons of public policy,” Hall explained in the article, titled …