Competition Law

On the 12 July 2019, the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in Falzon Group Holdings Limited et v Director General (Competition). Plaintiffs were seeking to have competition proceedings struck out on the basis that the investigation conducted by the Director General (Competition) under the dispositions of the Competition Act (Cap 379 of the laws of Malta and hereinafter the 'Act') breached their right to a fair hearing under article 39(1) of the Constitution and article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This case was filed in the wake of Federation of Estate Agents v Director General (Competition), by…

This article was written by Dr Annalies Muscat and Dr Laura SpiteriThe Competition Act and Consumer Affairs Act and other Laws (Amendment) Act ("the Amendment Act") was enacted on 31 May 2019. Parliament had first proposed amendments to the Competition Act (Cap 379 of the Laws of Malta) (the 'Act') following the Constitutional Court decision Federation of Estate Agents v Direttur Generali (Kompetizzjoni) et of 3 May 2016.After a public consultation and the Constitutional Court decision in Thake et vs Electoral Commission of 8 October 2018, a bill was presented to Parliament (see here ) with proposed amendments intended to…

Following the feedback sought by the European Commission (the 'Commission') regarding the commitments offered by Visa and Mastercard further to the Statement of Objections issued by the Commission regarding the competition concerns raised by inter-regional interchange fees ('inter-regional MIFs') for payment transactions, the Commission has accepted the commitments offered by Visa and Mastercard (read more here).These commitments shall be applicable for a period of five years and six months and shall concern inter-regional MIFs applied to payment transactions made using Mastercard, Maestro, Visa, Visa Electron, and V-PAY credit and debit card brands.The accepted commitments and more information about these cases…

This article is written by Dr Annalies Muscat and Dr Laura SpiteriOn the 14 March 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ('CJEU') handed down the judgement of Vantaan kaupunki v. Skanska Industrial Solutions Oy, NCC Industry Oy, Asfaltmix Oy where it concluded that if a company changes ownership, the restructured company or the purchasing company can be held liable for the anti-competitive behaviour of its predecessors, not justin public enforcement actions but also in private actions. The case dealt with a group of Finnish companies that formed a cartel in the asphalt market between 1994 and 2002…

This article was written by​ Dr Annalies Muscat and Dr Laura Spiteri.​On 22 January 2019, the European Commission ("the Commission) fined MasterCard for limiting the possibility for retailers to benefit from lower interchange fees in other Member States.This follows the call for feedback on commitments offered by Visa and MasterCard regarding the competition concerns raised by inter-regional interchange fees for payment card transactions (read more here).The fine comes as a response to MasterCard's breach of competition rules, which MasterCard admitted to. Prior to the implementation of the Interchange Fee Regulation, the aim of which was to introduce caps on interchange…