Britain plans to streamline its antitrust regime by merging two existing bodies into a single competition and market authority, in a move broadly welcomed by business leaders. An official list of public bodies facing reform said the government would consult next year on a merger of the Competition Commission with the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The proposal would transfer the OFT's consumer and enforcement functions to another body. The CBI, Britain's biggest business lobby, welcomed the move on Thursday, which it said it had advocated. The heads of the two organisations also backed the proposal. "The planned merger would improve the efficiency of the competition regime by cutting duplication," said Matthew Fell, CBI Director of Competitive Markets. "It would also benefit businesses by speeding up merger reviews and market investigations, reducing the time firms are left in limbo," he added. The changes will be watched closely by M&A lawyers and bankers, particularly those who are in the middle of putting together deals.
As well as examining how far take-overs will impact consumer choice and being the final arbiter on mergers or acquisitions, the two bodies also regularly probe industries for evidence of market abuse or unfair business practices. The OFT suffered a setback in May when the trial of four senior British Airways executives on price-fixing allegations collapsed after the belated discovery of key e-mail documents.