Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division have now brought cases challenging deals under President Trump’s administration. In many respects, the theories of harm alleged in these cases are traditional and not necessarily reflective of the “new theories” under the 2023 Merger Guidelines. Additionally, in both cases, the DOJ and FTC show a continued focus on both price and non-price aspects of competition, especially those related to innovation.

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Welcome to the Litigation Gazette. Each quarter, BCLP's Paris team will keep you informed of the main litigation news in competition law, commercial litigation, labor law, IP/IT/Data and compliance.

Competition Commission v W. Hing Construction & others [2022] HKCA 786 (judgment date: 2 June 2022) concerned an appeal from the first Hong Kong judgments concerning pecuniary penalties for contraventions of competition rules. The Court of Appeal held that pecuniary penalties for contraventions of competition rules are to be assessed based on the economic activities and conduct of the undertakings who are answerable for the contraventions, and that the legal or natural persons (entities) constituting such undertakings jointly and severally are liable for the pecuniary penalties. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeals by the Competition Commission (Commission) against two judgments in which the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) reduced the pecuniary penalties ordered against the respondents in recognition of the respondents’ limited participation in the anti-competitive conduct because they had passed down various obligations through subcontracting and partnership arrangements in return for a portion of the value of sales related to the contravention.