CMA launches review amid government pressure to be more pro-growth – UKTN

The UK’s competition watchdog is to review its approach to merger decisions it responds to government pressure to be more pro-growth.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will look at both process and how it can strike the right balance between different types of remedies, amid a wide-ranging call for evidence.

Alongside this, the watchdog has produced a ‘Mergers Charter’, designed to set out principles and overarching expectations for how the CMA will engage with businesses and their advisors during merger investigations.

The CMA said it is seeking feedback on three key areas:

1. How the CMA approaches remedies, including the circumstances in which a behavioural remedy may be appropriate.
2. How remedies can be used to preserve any pro-competitive effects of a merger and other customer benefits.
3. How the process of assessing remedies can be made as quick and efficient as possible.

The call for evidence will remain open until 12 May 2025.

It comes after CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell vowed to speed up and improve ‘predictability’ of regulatory decision-making in a bid to make the watchdog more business-friendly.

Cardell said: “We know speed of decision making is vital to reduce uncertainty and costs for businesses.

“Given the vast majority of deals the CMA looks at ultimately end in clearance (either unconditionally or with remedies), we must move as quickly as possible to get to the right decisions. Our proposals will deliver these outcomes more quickly and help us minimise the end-to-end length of merger investigations.”

Cardell pledged to establish a new KPI to complete the pre-notification phase within 40 working days, against a current average of 65, as well as to reduce the current target for straightforward Phase 1 cases from 35 working days to 25.

In December PM Keir Starmer, wrote to the CMA instructing it to remove barriers to economic growth.

Several weeks later, CMA chair Marcus Bokkerink was ousted by theBusiness Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, though Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted he had “resigned” so a new chair could be found in line with the government’s new strategic direction.

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