RBB Economics

RBB’s Joost Vandenbossche will be speaking at ThoughtLeaders4 Competition | TL4C ’s EU Competition Law Private Enforcement Forum 2025 on 4 November in Amsterdam. He’ll join the panel on “Exploring abuse of dominance and DMA claims”, covering: • Key developments in Article 102 • DMA Gatekeepers and dominance issues • Follow-on actions arising from Digital Markets Act enforcement The full agenda is available here: https://lnkd.in/e6FctfmB #CompetitionLaw #CompetitionEconomics #DMA #AbuseOfDominance

Mergers in Asia-Pacific: the new legislative landscape. RBB’s Yan Yu will join a panel session discussing this topic at the Concurrences Asia-Pacific Conference in Hong Kong later this month. The discussion will examine major recent shifts in merger control and competition enforcement across the wider Asia-Pacific. Highlights include India’s rapid clearance of a major insurance deal by Bajaj Group, China’s new guidelines on SEPs and horizontal mergers, and the Philippines’ growing use of behavioural remedies in digital markets. Australia’s upcoming 2026 merger rule changes are already shaping 2025 deal timelines. A key focus will be India’s 2023 Competition Amendment Act, introducing a deal-value threshold and settlement framework, with new CCI guidance released in May 2025. The panel will provide comparative insights into how jurisdictions are adapting competition regimes to evolving market and regulatory dynamics. Full agenda here: https://lnkd.in/eaHYUiwn #CompetitionLaw #Antitrust #MergerControl #AsiaPacific

RBB’s Paul Stoddart will be speaking at ThoughtLeaders4 Competition | TL4C’s Merger Control Forum on 4 November in London. His panel will cover key developments in UK and EU merger control, with a focus on efficiencies and evolving theories of harm. Topics include: - How the Commission and NCAs are approaching efficiencies post-Draghi and Mission Letters - Substantive review of innovation, ecosystems, and dynamic theories of harm - Implications for the UK regime as efficiency considerations evolve The full agenda is available here: https://lnkd.in/eeeKF-_m #MergerControl #CompetitionLaw #Antitrust #RBBEconomics #EUCompetition #UKCompetition

RBB’s Richard Murgatroyd spoke on a panel at GCR’s Competition Litigation 2025 conference in London earlier this week. The session, "What can we learn from the trials and judgments from the last 12 months?", brought together leading experts to examine key cases including Le Patourel v BT, Stellantis v Autoliv, Apple v Kent, and McLaren v MoL. Alongside fellow panellists, Richard explored what these recent judgments reveal about the direction of future antitrust claims and the evolving role of expert witnesses in competition litigation. Thank you to the organisers and to Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer for hosting. Photo shared with permission from Global Competition Review #CompetitonLaw #Antitrust #CompetitionLitigation #GCRLive

RBB's Paul Reeve will speak on the panel "Merger control: the new equilibrium" at GCR’s Global Merger Control Conference 2025 in Brussels on 23 October 2025. The discussion will cover the interaction between industrial policy and merger control, the role of efficiencies, and recent developments, including the Draghi Report, the Competitiveness Compass, merger guidelines reform, and cases such as Vodafone/Three. The full programme is available here: https://lnkd.in/eEfRuEwK #CompetitionLaw #MergerControl #GCREvents

RBB Economics invites competition law practitioners to an online forum on EU competition law, taking place on 15 October. The event will feature expert-led discussions on the upcoming revision of the European Commission’s merger guidelines. The programme will run from 14:15 to 19:00 CET, with a scheduled break. For more information, please visit our event page: https://lnkd.in/e_JpVA-U #CompetitionPolicy #CompetitionLaw #MergerControl #RBBEconomics

The Supreme Court of Victoria has issued judgment in the final case amongst several damages claims relating to the introduction and operation of UberX in various States within Australia. In 2024, the court approved a settlement between Uber in regard to class action claims by groups of taxi drivers, operators or license holders (Andrianakis v Uber). The court has now issued judgment in a standalone claim for damages (Taxi Apps v Uber), where the court found no liability for Uber, noting in part that Uber had intended to launch to meet latent demand. An RBB team led by Patrick Smith and assisted by Chris Whelan and Jack Mays, submitted detailed economic and econometric expert evidence in both matters, and provided oral testimony in a lengthy hearing in the standalone claim. RBB was instructed by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, solicitors for Uber.  #CompetitionLitigation #CompetitionLaw #Antitrust #CompetitionEconomics

We were delighted to co-host with Concurrences an event in Copenhagen this week, focusing on the always current question of the degree of competition in the grocery retail sector in the Nordics. We explored interesting economic analyses that the Nordic Competition Authorities have been undertaking on developments of prices, margins and pass-on of costs throughout the grocery value chain. This also included a discussion of the twofold role of private label sales. We further discussed key take-aways from merger cases in Finland and Denmark and to what extent the merger activity may be affected by merger call in-powers. The panellists also presented the background to, and the economic theory of harm underpinning, the interesting Norwegian price hunter case. Thank you to our speakers Magnus Friis Reitan, Niels Enemærke, Olli Kauppi, Virpi Ojanen, and our RBB moderator Petter Berg, for their valuable insights into recent competition law developments in the grocery sector. We also thank our guests for their thoughtful questions and engagement. #CompetitionLaw #GroceryRetailing #Nordics Photos shared with permission from Concurrences. Photos © Rolf Glumsøe Dragsted

Are you a recent or soon-to-be MSc Economics graduate with an interest in microeconomics/IO, or a competition economist with experience from a competition authority, regulator or consultancy? #RBBEconomics is hiring at all levels in Copenhagen. Our team advises on some of the most complex and high-impact competition and litigation cases around the world. You would collaborate closely with colleagues across our various offices and contribute from day one with your economic and quantitative skills.   If you are the person that we’re looking for, or you know who that person might be, please get in touch: https://lnkd.in/ep43NHJD #CompetitionEconomics

Last week, RBB’s Joan de Solà-Morales had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at Concurrences’ Global Antitrust Hot Topics conference in Brussels, discussing recent developments in EU and global merger control. His panel had a great discussion around the key topics in the review of the Commission’s merger guidelines, including investment, efficiencies, and structural (rebuttable) presumptions, as well as recent developments in US merger control. Many thanks to his fellow panellists Annemiek Wilpshaar, Paul Cuomo, Beatriz Sanz Fernandez-Vega, and moderator Matthew Levitt for an interesting session. #MergerControl #CompetitionLaw #Antitrust #CompetitionEconomics Photos shared with permission from Concurrences, © Jan Van de Vel