The COVID-19 crisis has caused havoc to daily life and to economies around the world. Among other things, it has put immense pressure on businesses to coordinate and collaborate with each other in order to address unprecedented disruptions to major parts of the economy (e.g., shortages of essential goods and services, collapse of supply chains,
Canada’s antitrust/competition, marketing and foreign investment laws continue to apply despite the global health and economic crisis arising from COVID-19. However, the enforcement of these laws are being significantly impacted by the COVID-19 response. These developments are fast moving and change almost daily.
Fasken’s Antitrust/Competition & Marketing Group continues to monitor these developments very closely.
In recent years, competition/antitrust enforcers around the world, including Canada, have taken a marked interest in private equity deals. As part of a broader global trend of tougher merger enforcement, private equity firms that have taken ownership positions (controlling or minority) in portfolio companies that are competitors have been subject to heightened scrutiny. The litigation
In his remarks at the New York University School of Law on July 11, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim announced a significant policy shift at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that would incentivize the adoption of adequate and effective corporate compliance programs.
Going forward, in deciding on how to resolve criminal charges against
The Federal Government has announced the creation of a 10-point Digital Charter, which will involve, among other things, updating the Privacy Act. The Digital Charter will outline what Canadians can expect from both the government and the private sector as it relates to the digital landscape. This initiative is geared towards providing greater transparency
On October 26, 2017, the Canadian Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) released for public comment a revised version of its Immunity Program, under which a party may receive immunity from criminal prosecution if the party is the first to disclose an offence and agrees to cooperate with the Bureau’s investigation and prosecution of others. The revisions, discussed below, has led to comments and concerns from, among others, the CBA National Competition Law Section and the ABA Section of Antitrust Law. These comments and concerns are discussed below.
According to the press release, the program is being updated to increase transparency and predictability in light of legal and policy developments.
The Bureau has advised that the changes are prompted partly by the outcome of recent unsuccessful prosecutions and include the following:
Citing the desire for a balanced approach to the needs of individuals and organizations under Canada’s anti-spam law, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development announced today that he is delaying indefinitely the coming into force of the private right of action provisions (section 51) in Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL).
This important decision is
On February 17, 2017, Toronto-based e-books retailer Rakuten Kobo Inc. (“Kobo”) sought judicial review of the consent agreements reached between the Commissioner of Competition (“Commissioner”) and three e-books publishers earlier this year.
The consent agreements reached between the Commissioner and each of Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster are aimed at resolving the Commissioner’s concerns
On September 29, 2016, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) released a revised consent agreement template for merger remedy negotiations. The release of the Bureau’s updated template is timely, as the number of consent agreements registered with the Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) have risen significantly since the last template was published in 2007.
This year alone,
For the second time in as many months, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) has made an historic announcement about its efforts to enforce the criminal conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act (the “Act”).
On July 20,
