Featuring papers and high level discussion on the following key topics:

·      UK Consumer Rights Bill

·      CMA update

·      Litigation

·      Merger Control

·      Abuse of Dominance

·      Cartels

·      Information Exchange

·      Global Antitrust Audits

·      Providing internal advice to senior management on competition law

08.30 - 09.00    Registration

09.00 - 09.10    Conference Chair:

Paolo Palmigiano

Chairman of ICLA (association of in-house competition lawyers) & General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer – EMEA

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd, UK

 

Welcome and Introduction

Michael Bond

Editor

International In-house Counsel Journal

 

9.10 - 9.50         Keynote speech: The first 6 months of the CMA

·      Strategy & mission of the CMA as indicated in our Annual Plan and how things are going in relation to the delivery of those objectives for the agency as a whole

·      Governance and decision-making in the CMA

·      Early indications of how changes to merger control in the CMA are performing (use of interim orders, length of pre-notification including timings for end-to-end reviews, referral rates to phase II)

·      Early indications of work with concurrent regulators under UKCN with examples from joint work in banking, energy and healthcare

·      An update on CA98 civil enforcement activity

 

Dr Andrea Coscelli

Executive Director, Markets & Mergers

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), UK

9.50 – 10.30      Recent Developments in Merger Control

Dr. Tobias Caspary

Partner

Fried Frank, London

 

Julia Brockhoff

Deputy Head of Unit in DG Competition’s unit A-2 – Merger case support and policy

European Commission

 

10.30 – 11.00    Tea, coffee and discussion

11.00 – 11.45    Information exchange

·          What types of communications between manufacturers and retailers give rise to issues?

·          How does one guard against communications spilling over into RPM?

·          Are competition rules chilling the ability for businesses to negotiate with their suppliers?

·          How does one ensure transparency of prices without creating competition issues?

·          Are competition rules chilling the ability for businesses to negotiate with their suppliers?

 

Dr Matthew Bennett

Vice President

Charles River Associates, UK

 

Georgina Foggin

Senior Commercial Lawyer

John Lewis, UK

 

Sarah Randall

Legal Manager – Competition Law

BP,UK

 

11.45 – 12.45    Panel Session: Abuse of Dominance, Mergers and Cartels:

                             The challenges for in-house counsel to provide internal advice on competition law issues

1.   As companies are under the responsibility to do their own analysis from a competition law point of view and at the same time are liable to hefty fines if they get it wrong it creates a special dynamic between potential risk and cost. A legal counsel could chose to rely completely on external advice, which will cost the company dearly and will still not necessarily protect the company from potential sanctions, or chose to take care of the analysis himself and thereby potentially be held responsible internally if things go wrong.

2.   Another challenge is the unpredictability of competition law as well as the timings and other practicalities when it comes to merger control rules. In order to carry out a complete analysis one also needs to do a thorough market analysis, which for diversified companies potentially requires substantial resources and time. Considerations that the business side may be unwilling to prioritize.

3.   These are issues that legal counsels in all bigger companies will recognize and have experience from and it will create some fruitful discussion.

 

Chair: Andreas Blomquist, Senior Legal Counsel, NASDAQ OMX, Sweden

 

Panel Members:

 

Simon Vande Walle

Case Handler, Unit C-5

DG Competition, European Commission

 

Julia Holtz

Director Competition

Google

 

Maria Troberg

Senior Legal Counsel, Competition

Nokia, Finland

 

12.45 - 14.00     Lunch

14.00 - 15.00     In-house Management Panel Debate: Developments in Private Law Litigation and Compliance   

Chair:James Kitching, Litigation Partner, Fried Frank, UK

Panel Members:

Lee Callaghan

Group Competition Counsel, General Counsel International Markets

Aviva

 

Rogier Groen

Vice President/Business Ethics & Compliance Officer – Projects & Technology

Shell International B.V. Netherlands, UK

 

David Kemp

Executive Director of Legal Policy

HP Autonomy, UK

 

15.00 – 15.30    Tea, coffee and discussion

15.30 - 16.15    International Competition Damages Litigation in the UK: 

                            Risks and Opportunities for Companies

·      Quick recap on the state of play on the legislative front at EU/UK level

·      Damages Directive

·      UK Consumer Rights Bill

·      The new collective action procedure before the Competition Appeal Tribunal

·      Proving damages in practice:

·      The overcharge

·      Pass-on

·      Umbrella damages

·      Exemplary damages

·      The benefits and drawbacks of the UK as a forum for plaintiffs/defendants

·      Recent UK cases and settlements:

·      Cooper Tire

·      National Grid

·      Air Cargo

Robert O’Donoghue

Barrister

Brick Court, UK

 

16.15 - 16.45    Global Antitrust Audits

With the ever increasing importance of antitrust law all over the world, multinational companies cannot longer afford to concentrate their attention only to their home markets. Rather they have to ensure compliance with antitrust laws in all countries where they are active. In particular in the context of antitrust audits this presents a number of challenges due to differences in the legal framework (e.g., legal privilege), cultural and language barriers and not the least the issue of logistics due to the geographic spread.

Dr. André Uhlmann

Head of Compliance Investigations

ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany

 

16.45 – 17.15   The first 6 months of the FCA and CMA

Lee Callaghan

Group Competition Counsel, General Counsel International Markets

Aviva

 

17.15                 Close and Cocktail Reception