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Laura Spiteri

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Commission accepts commitments offered by Visa and Mastercard on inter-regional interchange fees Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Commission accepts commitments offered by Visa and Mastercard on inter-regional interchange fees

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…
Laura Spiteri
10th May 2019
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European Commission Issues Public Consultation on the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation Antitrust, Competition and Trade

European Commission Issues Public Consultation on the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation

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 category of vertical agreements which the European Commission regards as normally satisfying…
Laura Spiteri
12th April 2019
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Cartel Leniency and Non-Cartel Cooperation Tool Taken Online Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Cartel Leniency and Non-Cartel Cooperation Tool Taken Online

On the 19 March 2019, the European Commission (the 'Commission') took its leniency proceedings online by launching "eLeniency".  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". It is a process by which the Commission encourages a company which is aware of cartel behaviour on the market to come forward and share the information it holds, i.e.…
Laura Spiteri
6th April 2019
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Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Industry Corporate and M&A

Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Industry

In April 2018, the European Commission issued a proposal for a Directive on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain, following a resolution by the European Parliament in 2016 for the Commission to submit a proposal in this regard. Presently, there is little harmonisation on how Member States combat unfair trading practices, with some Member States, including Malta, having no such legislation in place.The proposed Directive targets the imbalance of power in buyer-supplier relationships where the supplier is a small and medium-sized enterprise ('an SME') and the buyer is not. Small operators in the food supply…
Laura Spiteri
24th October 2018
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Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Industry Corporate and M&A

Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Industry

In April 2018, the European Commission issued a proposal for a Directive on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain, following a resolution by the European Parliament in 2016 for the Commission to submit a proposal in this regard. Presently, there is little harmonisation on how Member States combat unfair trading practices, with some Member States, including Malta, having no such legislation in place.The proposed Directive targets the imbalance of power in buyer-supplier relationships where the supplier is a small and medium-sized enterprise ('an SME') and the buyer is not. Small operators in the food supply…
Laura Spiteri
24th October 2018
News_UTP.png
Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Industry Corporate and M&A

Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Industry

In April 2018, the European Commission issued a proposal for a Directive on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain, following a resolution by the European Parliament in 2016 for the Commission to submit a proposal in this regard. Presently, there is little harmonisation on how Member States combat unfair trading practices, with some Member States, including Malta, having no such legislation in place.The proposed Directive targets the imbalance of power in buyer-supplier relationships where the supplier is a small and medium-sized enterprise ('an SME') and the buyer is not. Small operators in the food supply…
Laura Spiteri
24th October 2018