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On 10 October 2024, the Federal Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024 (“Bill”) to Parliament. The Bill will amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (“CCA”) to implement a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime in place of the former voluntary regime.
The Bill has been introduced following extensive public consultation, resulting in a number of important changes to the proposal set out in the earlier exposure draft.

Through Decree No. 780/2024, published in the Official Gazette on 2 September 2024 (“Decree”), Regulatory Decree No. 206/2017 and its subsequent modifications (“Regulatory Decree”) of Law on Access to Public Information No. 27275 (“Law”) have been amended. The Decree introduces the following amendments to the Regulatory Decree of the Law, among others:
‱ The Decree delimits the scope of the definitions of (i) public information, which does not include private data or data that is not of public interest; and (ii) document, which is limited to any record generated, controlled or held within the framework of the state activity and excludes preparatory deliberations and working papers.
‱ The Decree regulates the formal requirements for information requests.

The Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have voted unanimously to issue a final rule developed by both the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice and the FTC, updating the Premerger Notification Rules that implement the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act (“HSR Act”), including substantial changes to the HSR Form.

In keeping with tradition, we are pleased to invite you to our annual Global Year-End Review of Import/Export & Trade Compliance Developments Conference. The conference will provide valuable insights on the latest developments, challenges and opportunities in the ever-changing landscape of international trade.
We are holding this conference in a split-hybrid format, with an in-person event in Santa Clara, CA, on 12 November and virtual panels on 19-21 November.

The Brazilian Secretariat of International Trade initiated a new antidumping investigation against Brazilian imports of pre-painted steels from China and India on 19 September 2024. Pre-painted steels are used for civil construction, automotive industry, white goods, packaging and others.

The ACCC commenced Federal Court proceedings on 23 September against Coles and Woolworths alleging that the two major supermarkets have misled consumers by using their “Down Down” and “Prices Dropped” pricing claims in cases where the prices were actually higher than, or the same as, the previous regular price.

This week, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) issued three price-fixing cartel cases against 21 of the major producers of table eggs, including board members of the Table Eggs Chamber, which is part of the General Union of Chicken Producers. In those cases, the Cartel Members agreed on the selling price of white and red table eggs, violating Article 6 of the Egyptian Competition Law No. 3 of 2005. The ECA initiated criminal proceedings before the public prosecution office for the Cartel Members and did not settle the case.

Over the past year, antitrust regulators in the Middle East have implemented significant changes to the local competition law regimes, with a new competition law coming into effect in the United Arab Emirates and substantial changes being made to the applicable merger control regimes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Egypt. Competition law enforcement has also continued to intensify in the KSA and Egypt, as well as in other key emerging markets in the GCC. During this 2-hour seminar, we will provide an update on the latest key competition law developments and what to expect on the horizon as well as compliance tips and pointers.

A preliminary investigation by the Secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission into information exchanges in the Swiss labor market has found indications of collusion on employee compensation and benefits among more than 200 large companies in various sectors. While the preliminary investigation was initially limited to the banking sector, it became apparent that information exchanges on wage-related topics also occurred in other sectors. Due to the large number of parties involved, the Swiss authority decided that developing best-practice guidelines would be more effective in remedying the situation than launching an in-depth investigation into the behavior of each company. Therefore, the Swiss authority closed the preliminary investigation without opening a formal investigation and without imposing any sanctions.

The General Authority for Competition in Saudi Arabia has recently issued new guidelines aimed at promoting competition in the supply and sale of school uniforms and related items. The guidelines cover all relevant equipment, including school uniforms, desks, and chairs, among other necessary supplies. These guidelines are part of the Authority’s continued effort to enhance consumer protection in the Saudi market and Competition Law in Saudi Arabia.