IBA: competition authorities' reaction to COVID-19
COVID-19 has significantly affected the dynamics of the legal industry, interrupting the way competition authorities work globally. In a short period of time, authorities have adapted to lawyers, economists and companies working remotely, with the opportunity to have face-to-face meetings and in person hearings falling away.
The International Bar Association has published a survey on how authorities have responded to COVID-19 across 44 jurisdictions, compiling competition agencies' reactions to the ‘new normal’.
For the United Kingdom, London artner and competition specialist Anna Morfey, provides background on how the CMA has reacted to the situation, including the creation of a dedicated COVID-19 taskforce to monitor the market to identify harmful pricing practices, and is taking steps to tackle abusive behaviour. She provides thorough details on the measures being taken to exempt filings or investigations of cooperation agreements, and the examples of behaviour that would not be exempt from enforcement action, should companies try to exploit the crisis in order to engage in non-essential collusion.