Friday, August 08, 2014

Entertaining Summer Reading Re MFNs

"THE CHAIRMAN:  We saw from Mr Italianer's speech at Innsbruck that the CMA could have followed the German approach and actually tackled the rate parity issue head on, but it chose not to do that? MISS BACON:  The German approach was to attack the MFN provision, the OFT's Approach was to look at the discounting restriction.  So there are two different mechanisms of addressing the issues in this market place.  This is not a challenge to the OFT ---- THE CHAIRMAN:  It is not a competition between competition authorities, I know that. MISS BACON:  This appeal is not a challenge to the scope of the CMA's investigation. THE CHAIRMAN:  I know that too. MISS BACON:  I am simply answering the question as to why they were.  As I have pointed out, it is in Mr Rasmussen's evidence. MR WILKS:  Although MFNs were highlighted in the Statement of Objections. MISS BACON:  I am going to come to that.  They were highlighted in the Statement of Objections as part of the relevant context which was why the OFT was opening in this investigation.  What the OFT said in the Statement of Objections was that it was not, it had not investigated the extent to which MFNs did exacerbate these restrictions of competition, and it is common ground, undisputed, that the focus of the OFT's investigation was not on MFNs, it was on the discounting restrictions, it was on what was regarded as RPM."
Here.