The final week of October brought a strong close to the month, with 41 developments across competition enforcement, merger control, and policy reform. Authorities imposed over $10 million in new fines and secured a $131 million UK settlement, while merger control saw a string of conditional approvals and procedural updates from Europe to Africa.
Key highlights below
🧾 Fines and Enforcement Actions
Total fines exceeded $10 million, spanning bid-rigging, dominance abuse, and procedural violations.
- UK CMA concluded its housebuilders probe with a $131.5 million settlement and binding commitments from seven major developers.
- Hungary’s GVH fined the operator of Használtautó.hu $1.6 million for exclusionary conduct.
- Lithuania’s MM Grupp received an $8.7 million fine for an unauthorised cinema merger, while Slovakia’s Sinop Alfa was penalised $81K for obstructing an inspection.
- Ukraine’s AMCU fined one bidder $7.5K, granted leniency to another, and separately secured a $13 million asset freeze against Tedis Ukraine over unpaid penalties.
- Austria’s BWB applied for fines against Marko Construction over long-running bid-rigging schemes.
🔄 Merger Control Developments (11 stories)
Merger control remained dynamic, combining high-profile clearances with procedural reforms.
- Spain’s CNMC cleared Bondalti/Ercros with structural remedies after an in-depth review.
- Ecuador’s SCE and COMESA approved Alicorp/Jabonería Wilson and Canal+/MultiChoice, respectively, both with conditions.
- COMESA also cleared Seychelles Breweries’ acquisition under brand-preservation commitments.
- Chile’s TDLC authorised the LATAM–Delta codeshare expansion into Argentina.
- UK CMA provisionally flagged competition issues in Aramark/Entier and Greencore/Bakkavor, while publishing updated merger guidance embedding the “4Ps” (predictability, proportionality, pace, partnership).
- Turkey’s authority cleared CEVA/Borusan Tedarik with conditions.
- Singapore’s CCCS opened consultation on revised merger and settlement guidelines, and Lithuania announced plans for real estate merger guidance.
🏛️ Policy, Cooperation, and Market Studies
Authorities focused on framework reforms and institutional cooperation.
- The European Commission published feedback from its Merger Guidelines review, with a draft update due in spring 2026.
- Germany’s Bundeskartellamt backed a temporary data-sharing platform for automakers amid a chip shortage.
- France’s Autorité issued sustainability guidance on retail carbon data sharing and later warned of rising veterinary costs linked to concentration in clinic networks.
- New Zealand detailed reforms to its merger review process, and Korea’s KFTC proposed procedural rule changes to speed up minor cases.
💻 Digital Markets and Consumer Enforcement
Regulators tightened their oversight of platforms and AI-linked conduct.
- The European Commission found TikTok and Meta in preliminary breach of DSA transparency obligations.
- Netherlands’ ACM launched a data-access portal for researchers under the DSA.
- The ACCC sued Microsoft over allegedly misleading AI upgrade pricing for 365 subscribers.
- Hungary’s GVH opened a follow-up probe into Wish’s commitments compliance.
⚙️ Vertical and Sectoral Investigations
Vertical restraints and trade practices continued to attract scrutiny.
- Italy’s AGCM launched an RPM probe into DJI and distributor Nital.
- Australia’s ACCC accepted undertakings from Connected Audio Visual in a resale price maintenance case.
- Romania’s authority raided six major retail chains over unfair trading practices in dairy.
- Korea’s KFTC ordered EO System to remove restrictive supply terms in defense optics.
As November opens, the global competition landscape shows no signs of slowing. Agencies are refining rules, coordinating across borders, and experimenting with new digital-era tools — from DSA data-access portals to green-market guidance. With major consultations still underway in Brussels, Singapore, and Wellington, and upcoming international meetings in Tbilisi, the next few weeks are set to extend this momentum into a decisive year-end stretch for global antitrust enforcement.
View all of our 41 new stories published this week here.
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