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Corporate LiveWire
Cartels are a serious business. Across the world, an enormous range of businesses and individuals are affected when one or more companies group together to fix the price of products or services, allocate markets or otherwise seek to control their commercial relationships illegitimately. Cartels have a highly detrimental effect on markets, affecting all downstream undertakings. Just as markets have become globalised, so too have cartels. The EU has estimated that cartels cause losses of up to €3 billion a year to businesses and consumers. In addition, they exclude competitors, harm product quality and stifle innovation. In short, they are bad for business.
Historically, the most rigorous anti-cartel regime has been in the United States where, in addition to government regulation, private actions play a central role in fighting cartels to recover losses for the victims. However, private enforcement actions are now taking off across the world. In particular, the UK has become an attractive place in which to litigate antitrust (competition) disputes, buoyed by recent developments in the law, and a large number of claims against international cartels are now being litigated there. This article provides an overview of the anti-cartel regime in the UK and argues that businesses should seriously consider choosing the UK as the forum for their anti-cartel claims.
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