David Currie, the chair designate of the to-be-created Competition and Markets Authority, set out his “vision” for the new authority in a speech on 28 November 2012. The CMA will bring together the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission and is expected to assume its new powers in April 2014; the legal framework for the CMA is being created by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, currently going through the House of Lords.
From the BIS press release:
“Lord Currie outlined his vision for how the CMA will address the issues as part of the Government’s comprehensive competition and consumer landscape reform, including:
• deploying resources more effectively and flexibly to the different parts of its work, including Phase 1 and Phase 2 merger and markets investigations and decisions, adhering to tighter timetables;
• using new powers to make antitrust investigations more efficient and fair; and
• tackling hardcore cartels more effectively to ensure that markets can be as dynamic and innovative as possible to help achieve the economic growth that the country needs, through the proposed removal of the dishonesty test.
Lord Currie was clear that the CMA will play a bigger role in the enforcement of consumer law, working closely with other national organisations such as Trading Standards (through the recently established National Trading Standards Board) and Citizens Advice. Together this will result in effective competition and well-informed and empowered consumers, both making an important contribution to driving growth in the economy.”
See also: Queen’s speech: company and financial law measures: binding vote on directors’ pay
