Clifford Chance
Court of Appeal upholds Competition and Markets Authority’s extraterritorial information-gathering powers
24 April 2024
The Court of Appeal confirmed in its ruling on 17 January 2024 that section 26 of the Competition Act 1998 provides the CMA with information-gathering powers that are extraterritorial. The CMA has the power to compel companies without a UK connection to provide it with information pursuant to a section 26 notice as part of its investigations, provided that the CMA suspects that anti-competitive conduct has, or had, taken place that was, or was intended, to be implemented in the UK. The judgment followed the CMA’s appeal of a joint ruling by the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the High Court issued in February 2023.
The CMA welcomed the ruling which strengthens its investigatory and enforcement powers, especially in the context of increasing cross-border reviews of activities by global firms.
This article was first published by Thomson Reuters, trading as Sweet & Maxwell, 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AQ in the European Competition Law Review as "Court of Appeal upholds Competition and Markets Authority’s extraterritorial information-gathering powers" in (2024) 45 E.C.L.R., Issue 4 pages N-99 – N-101 and is reproduced by agreement with the publishers.
