The UK Competition Law Forum 2024

Registration
08:45

Chairperson’s Welcome
09:15

Keynote: Update on the Competition Regulatory Landscape from the CMA
09:30

Unpacking Green Agreements and Competition Law
10:00

• Approaching the CMA with Sustainability collaboration
• The CMA’s Green Agreement guidance
• Engaging with the CMA’s Open-Door advice and compliance model

Networking & Refreshment Break
10:45

Key Developments in Competition Enforcement and Investigations
11:05

• Enforcement Trends in Competition Law
• Challenges of handling dawn raids
• The increased risk of multi-jurisdictional raids
• Raids at employees’ houses
• Go no-go decision on leniency
• Challenges and traps to prepare for in investigations
• Building effective communication between the CMA and clients

An In-House View at the Practical Challenges of the Competition Enforcement Regime
11:50

• Best practices in compliance
• CMA Horizontal Guidelines Update
• Preparations for the DMCC
• What are the common vulnerability points for compliance pre-investigation
• Legal privilege update
• Litigation risk?

Networking & Lunch Break
12:35

The Sector Regulators’ View of the Competition Landscape
13:35

• Assessing the competition concurrency arrangements
• Alignment between Competition and Data Protection Law
• Financial Services Competition Regulation
• AI Regulation in Competition Law

Exploring Mergers and the Merger Control Landscape
14:20

• Updates to the transparency and processes in the CMA to phase 2
• Assessing the scale divergence in the UK from Europe
• Unpacking the Microsoft Activision Blizzard ruling and reversal

Networking & Refreshment Break
15:05

Navigating the Interplay between Competition and Consumer Protection in a Post-DMCC World
15:25

• Trend of exploitative abuse collective actions and consumer enforcement through collective action regime
• The new CMA powers in Consumer Protection Enforcement
• Preparing for the CMA’s new consumer enforcement regime
• Enabling companies to get ahead of current consumer weak points
• Loyalty penalties and how far companies are responsible for consumer inaction
• Parental liability for consumer protection breaches

CMA’s Enforcement in Market Studies and Market Investigations
16:10

• The Market for Talent: Defining the theory of harm in a labour market
• Analysing big tech and eco-system theories of harm
• Information sharing/benchmarking rules and compliance
• In-house view: the competition regulator’s role in employment agreements

Chairperson’s Closing Remarks
16:55