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ARTICLE · 25 MARCH 2015

Key Unanswered Questions We Have About The FCA's New Concurrent Competition Powers

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From 1 April 2015, the FCA will gain concurrent competition enforcement powers, gaining the power to enforce EU and UK competition law within the UK financial sector.

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Michael Wainwright
Michael Wainwright
Rebecca Owen-Howes
Rebecca Owen-Howes
Alex Haffner
Alex Haffner
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From 1 April 2015, the FCA will gain concurrent competition enforcement powers, gaining the power to enforce EU and UK competition law within the UK financial sector. Until the LIBOR investigations, competition law (especially in the UK) had largely left the financial sector alone. Now, with a dedicated competition regulator, this will no longer be the case. 

However, as we go into full concurrency, there are a number of issues which remain unclear. Here are our burning unanswered questions.

  1. If a regulated firm applies for and gets full immunity from the FCA for a competition law infringement, will it be fined in any event for breaching FSMA?

    Competition enforcement runs on immunity and leniency: a sliding sale of discounts from full immunity downwards designed to create a prisoner's dilemma for cartelists, which rewards early and thorough disclosure of anticompetitive behaviour. The perverse incentives that this creates (an undertaking at the centre of

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