NZCC guidelines assist businesses and advisors to understand how the Commerce Act 1986 will be interpreted by the NZCC.

On 6 April 2006 the High Court in Auckland imposed one of the largest ever penalties for price fixing and exclusionary conduct in breach of the Commerce Act. The Court endorsed a settlement between the Commerce Commission and the Koppers Arch Group which required Koppers to pay a total of $3.6 million in penalties.

In a recent Supreme Court decision a majority of the Court overruled its decision in Dr Miles, a case decided in 1911 which, for almost a century, had established that agreements giving effect to minimum resale price maintenance were per se illegal.

The New Zealand Commerce Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have agreed to co-operate and co-ordinate their competition, consumer and regulatory functions pursuant to a co-operation agreement signed by the parties on 31 July 2007 ("Agreement").

Any of the Commission's suggestions would mean significant changes to the effect of the new Consumer Law Reform Bill.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed Telecom's appeal against the High Court decision in the Data Tails case.

This Alert explores the "unfair contract" and "unconscionable conduct" provisions and the implications for businesses.

Commerce Minister Simon Power has announced the reappointment of David Jones as chair and Colin Giffney as deputy chair of the Takeovers Panel.