This article was written by Dr Annalies Muscat and Dr Laura Spiteri The 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...

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 m...

This article is written by Dr Annalies Muscat and Dr Laura Spiteri On 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 [1] 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 c...

The European Commission has issued a public consultation to allow interested parties to provide their feedback with regard to competition issues that arise in vertical relationships. The public consultation period opened on the 4 February 2019 and shall continue to run until the 27 May 2019. This public consultation process follows an 'Evaluation and Fitness Check Roadmap' that was carried out from November to December 2018. 1 The Block Exemption Regulation (the 'Regulation'), 2 which entered into force in 2010 and shall continue to run until 2022, deals with a ca...

On the 19 March 2019, the European Commission (the 'Commission') took its leniency proceedings online by launching "eLeniency".  [1] With this new tool, companies can submit any documents relevant to leniency proceedings, as well as non-cartel cooperation cases, online. Leniency in the case of cartel proceedings is defined as the "granting of immunity from penalties or the reduction of penalties for antitrust violations in exchange for cooperation with the antitrust enforcement authorities". [2] It is a process by which the Commission encourages a company whi...