News > Competition Law
 The Competition Commission is investigating 65 bid-rigging cases in the construction sector, involving more than 70 projects worth about R29-billion. According to the Competition Commission, it has uncovered anti-competitive conduct across the construction industry. |
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 Click here to read the article: http://www.clasa.co.za/checklist/temp/File/Incorporate%20Articles%202010/pg%2026.pdf |
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 With the South African competition authorities dishing out staggering fines, the latest being Pioneer Foods, which were fined by the Competition Tribunal in the amount of just under R200 million, other African countries are gearing up to enforce competition law in their respective countries. |
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 President Jacob Zuma has signed the Competition Amendment Bill into law. From the operative date, it will be a criminal offence in terms of the Competition Amendment Act (the Act) for a director or a manager of a firm to cause the firm to engage in cartel conduct, or to knowingly acquiesce in the firm’s involvement in cartel conduct. Directors and managers found guilty of these provisions could face imprisonment of up to 10 years, or a fine of up to R500 000, or both a fine and imprisonment. |
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 Whilst Adams & Adams has always advised on competition law related matters, as the importance of this field of expertise has become commercially more relevant, the Competition Law Group was established in 2009. The group centralises competition law expertise in the firm and provides professional advice, not only on competition law, but on the interface between competition law and intellectual property. It advises on issues around, for example, prohibited practices, mergers and acquisitions, exemption applications and the interface between intellectual property and competition law. |
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 The Competition Commission is celebrating its 10-year anniversary later this year. It has reason to celebrate as there is consensus that the commission has ensured that the Competition Act (“the Act”) has become a central point in the South African commercial landscape. A number of high-profile cases have enjoyed prominence in the media and the commission is steadily increasing its enforcement capacity. Compliance with the Act has steadily moved up on the agendas of board meetings as failure to do so could deliver a destructive blow to any company’s reputation and financial position. To read more on this topic see: Competition law breaches are a corporate governance risk. |
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 The Competition Commission is celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year. It has reason to celebrate, as it has ensured that the Competition Act has become a central point in the South African commercial landscape. A number of cases have enjoyed prominence in the media and the Commission is steadily increasing its enforcement capacity. Compliance with the Act has steadily moved up on the agendas of board meetings as failure to comply could deliver a destructive blow to any company’s reputation and financial position. To read more on this topic see: Competition law breaches are a corporate governance risk. |
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 It does not happen very often, but sometimes, in the enforcement of competition law, complex jargon is used to describe particular anti competitive conduct or a particular approach to the interpretation and application of competition law. First, it was the concept of “bright lines” used in the context of mergers and acquisitions which had competition law practitioners and clients alike slightly confused as to the exact meaning thereof. Just recently, the term “super dominance” was used in relation to excessive pricing in the matter of Mittal Steel South Africa and others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited and others. Prior to the use of the term “super dominance” the writer was under the impression that once a firm was dominant it was dominant - no “super powers” were attributable to the firm. |
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 The Minister of Trade and Industry has issued Government Notices 215/2009 and 216/2009 containing: 1. A new determination of merger thresholds and method of calculation. 2. A new fee structure for the filing of a merger notice. In terms of the new thresholds a merger will be notifiable as an intermediate merger if the turnover and/or asset value of the target firm is at least R80 million (currently R30 million), and the combined assets and/or turnover of the acquiring and target firms meets or exceeds R560 million (currently R200 million). |
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 The large fine recently imposed by the Competition Commission for price fixing has emphasised the need for companies to be proactive in complying with competition law. The Competition Commission imposed a R46.3 million fine on listed construction and engineering company Aveng, in accordance with a consent agreement. The agreement is subject to approval by the Competition Tribunal. |
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 Patent litigation in South Africa often forms part of a global patent litigation strategy where corresponding patents in jurisdictions such as the US and Europe are also in play. The patentee may decide to settle the litigation on a global basis, resulting in the litigation being withdrawn in South Africa too. But patentees should make sure the settlement agreement complies with the Competition Act. In the pharmaceutical sector, the parties sometimes agree that in return for the patentee’s withdrawal of an action for infringement against a generic company, the generic company will launch a competing generic product only a few years after the patentee’s patent expires. This essentially extends the exclusivity of the patentee in respect of its product beyond the life of the patent. |
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 Directors and persons in "management authority" can breathe a sigh of relief as the Competition Amendment Bill (the Bill) has been sent back to the drawing board (the National Assembly) by President Kgalema Motlanthe amidst concerns that the Bill may be unconstitutional. The Bill aims, inter alia, at criminalizing the conduct of such persons in causing their firms to conduct their affairs in an anticompetitive manner. The Bill also extends to instances wherein such persons knowingly acquiesce to such conduct. |
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Developments contained in the Competition Amendment Bill (B31D-2008) have emphasised the importance of complying with competition law as part of corporate governance and risk management. |
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.
