The new white paper published by the Libra Association on April 2020 improved the association’s governance rules, mitigating some antitrust risks. Yet, the conversion to a permissioned blockchain from a permissioneless one may still render too much control over the system to the founding members of the Libra Association.
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Internet companies, and regulators for that matter, are increasingly using the word “ecosystem” to describe their business models. Those days where these companies operated just in one market are long gone. Google’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, has driven more miles than any other company, Facebook is planning to launch GlobalCoin, a crypto currency. Apple partnered with Goldman Sachs and Amazon isn’t a bookstore anymore. How this is going to affect market definitions?
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(Premium) – Sensor-makers such as Ametek, Sensata and Spectris may scout for targets in the software industry to ascend the industrial IoT value chain, following Hexagon’s lead in boosting its margin by acquiring software players. Sensors and related software help machines generate meaningful data that enable manufacturers to increase operational efficiencies.
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The European Commission published on April 4 a report on Competition Policy for the digital era that may be less damaging for Facebook than for Google, Amazon and Apple. Proposals include imposing obligations on the internet platforms as essential facilities, requiring data interoperability between rivals and a presumption that some activities are anticompetitive unless the companies prove otherwise.
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Spotify filed on March 13 an antitrust complaint against Apple for allegedly leveraging its market power on the app store to limit Spotify’s access to iOS users. Yet, EU precedents on music streaming app services suggest that Apple may not be dominant in some relevant markets and if this is still true, Apple’s practices, while damaging for Spotify, won’t be anticompetitive.
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BBA Aviation, Euromoney, Imperial Brands, Diageo and Pearson are some of the 50 U.K. companies that will have to pay collectively up to $1.5 billion in U.K. back-taxes after the European Commission declared a U.K tax exemption illegal. Yet, the companies may reduce the tax bill or even avoid any payment in the unlikely case of a hard-Brexit.
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Internet giants including Google, Facebook and Amazon will soon be subject to new Internet regulation in the U.K. that is exptected to increase companies’ compliance costs and limit their capacity to generate revenue. In an unusual coordinated move, parliament, government and the antitrust regulator launched different initiatives in March aimed at providing new powers to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
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The European Union approved on March 5 a new Regulation to screen foreign investments aimed at protecting strategic EU companies in the technology, infrastructure and energy sectors from non-EU buyers.
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The UK Financial Conduct Authority issued its first antitrust decision on February 21 imposing fines on Hargreave Hale (£306,300) and RAMAM (£108,600) for sharing sensitive information. The fines aren’t particularly high for companies with a FY18 turnover over £50 million but it sends a message to The City that there is a new antitrust watchdog in town.
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A Deutsche Bank-Commerzbank deal have been a few years in the making, but after the latest comments from German regulators and politicians, it seems that the deal may be closer. The lenders overlap in retail and corporate banking, but the combined market share isn’t likely to raise any antitrust concerns. Yet, is it the merger of two failing banks the solution to create a good one?
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