A dense week with 54 developments across enforcement, merger control and policy. Regulators handed down ~$52.4 million in new/confirmed fines across 10 cases (spanning dominance abuses, gun-jumping and cartels), opened headline investigations in financial markets and state-subsidy control, and pushed fresh toolkits for the digital era. On the deals side, the UK’s CMA signalled Phase I remedies in a major food merger while sending Getty–Shutterstock to Phase II; Brussels opened Phase II on a strategic raw-materials transaction. Courts weighed in on collective redress funding (UK Supreme Court) and access to leniency files (ECJ), underscoring litigation’s growing role in the antitrust ecosystem.
Key Highlights
🧾 Fines & Enforcement (c. $52.35M total)
- France — Doctolib: €4.665m (~$5.3m) for abuse (exclusivity/tying in e-health).
- Turkey — Novonesis: TRY 284.5m (~$6.7m) for dominance abuses in industrial enzymes.
- Latvia — Maxima: €1.87m (~$2.1m) for unfair purchasing practices.
- Lithuania — Emsi: €1.022m (~$1.17m) for gun-jumping (fuel retail).
- Romania — Medical waste cartel: RON 5.3m (~$1.2m) across five firms (market sharing).
- Ukraine — TB Fruit: UAH 39.1m (~$0.93m) for gun-jumping across four acquisitions.
- Cyprus — Ready-mix concrete cartel: €1.95m (~$2.2m) (decision adopted 2024; published now).
- Serbia — RPM (Metabo/Kapro): RSD 5.3m (~$0.05m).
- France — Parfait Group: €7.6m (~$8.7m) for breaching merger commitments (Martinique).
- India — Meta/WhatsApp: ~$24m fine confirmed on appeal (NCLAT).
(Also notable: no fine but big enforcement steps—EU opened a collusion probe into Deutsche Börse & Nasdaq; KFTC issued a corrective order to a massage association.)
🔄 Merger Control
- UK — Greencore/Bakkavor: CMA to accept Phase I remedies in the £1.2bn convenience foods deal.
- UK — Getty/Shutterstock: Phase II opened; Phase I remedies rejected.
- EU — MMG/Anglo American (nickel, Brazil): Phase II over raw-materials access concerns.
- Bulgaria — Phoenix/Medea: In-depth investigation opened (pharmacies).
- Italy — Conad Adriatico/Risto Cash & Carry: Phase II opened (regional grocery).
- Romania — Schwarz/La Cocoș: Concerns flagged post-screening (retail & procurement).
- Brazil — Libra & LFU football leagues: Interim measure barring new admissions amid gun-jumping probe.
- Qatar — Voluntary pre-merger consults launched (MOCI).
- South Africa — Draft pre-merger filing guidelines issued.
🏛️ Policy, Digital & Markets
Digital & platforms
- Indonesia (KPPU) urges law amendments to tackle algorithmic collusion and data dominance.
- Czech Republic to revive reform bill for new digital-era tools; separate mobile-market sector inquiry launched.
- ACM (NL) chair calls for EU joint decisions across NCAs/EC.
- Korea: senior KFTC officials flagged algorithmic risks; held policy roundtable with foreign chambers.
- Saudi Arabia (GAC) advocates balanced, innovation-friendly platform rules.
- Morocco hosted an international conference on digital platforms.
State aid/FSR
- EU (FSR): in-depth probe into CRRC subsidies in Lisbon rail tender.
Sector regulation & market power
- Norway urges stronger oversight of Tine’s raw-milk pricing powers.
- Lithuania clarifies EV charging infrastructure governance.
Cooperation, guidance, institution-building
- OECD spotlights growing use of market-investigation tools.
- Canada consults on updated enforcement guidelines.
- Egypt to formalise African cooperation agreements.
- Austria (exclusive): preparing a “New Competition Tool” for structural remedies; BWB also named a new head for Market & Cartel Screening.
- Australia extends battery stewardship authorisation by five years.
- EU schedules Dec 15 workshop on reforms to Regs 1/2003 & 773/2004.
Authorisations/coordination
- New Zealand authorises a 10-year power-sharing arrangement among generators (security-of-supply instrument).
⚙️ Dominance, Vertical & Other Investigations
- Dominance: probes or findings involving Doctolib (fine), Novonesis (fine), Maxima (fine), Egypt pharma (infringement found), Estonia (retail chains), Croatia (buyer power).
- Vertical/RPM: Turkey opens probe into Muya; Serbia fines in tools distribution.
- Commitments: Turkey revises Ferrero hazelnut purchasing commitments (2025 crop conditions).
⚖️ Litigation & Courts
- UK Supreme Court refuses Visa/Mastercard permission to appeal on litigation-funding enforceability — a major win for funded collective actions (and relevant to Apple-related claims).
- ECJ guidance: prosecutors may access leniency/settlement materials where it doesn’t undermine Art. 101 TFEU’s effectiveness.
- India (Delhi HC): CCI can’t levy retrospective interest in the batteries cartel case.
- India (NCLAT): confirms the Meta/WhatsApp abuse fine (see fines above).
View all of our 54 news stories published this week here.
Sign up for email notifications to receive our news and analysis directly into your mailbox.
