Matthew Hall reviews the role of the CMA in
controlling cartels.
The European Commission grabs all the headlines for its
uncompromising cartel fines, while the UK equivalent (the Office of
Fair Trading (OFT), now replaced by the Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA)), is often seen as a laggard in this area. However,
the CMA does have teeth and is determined to show this. During
2013, as the OFT, it handed down two cartel fining decisions
against a total of ten companies (Mercedes-Benz Commercial
Vehicles [2013] and Access Control and Alarm Systems
[2013]) and moved forward several other investigations, including a
new criminal cartel investigation against individuals.
The OFT was always careful to point out that its efforts to
stamp out cartels in particular, but also other anti-competitive
practices more generally, involve action on several fronts. The
same will be true now the CMA has been fully up and running since 1
April 2014. It will continue advocacy and
