Mergers: Reports
Australia: Key reports
Swanson Committee 1976
The Swanson Committee consdiered that the merger law, as originally enaged, was too 'sweeping' in its application. It recommended a threshold test for application of the provision (to be initially set at $3m). Although this change was not brought in, the Act was amended in 1977 and converted the original
Griffiths Committee 1989
In 1989, the House of Representative Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (the Griffiths Committee) recommended retaining the dominance test in its report ‘Mergers, Takeovers and Monopolies: Profiting From Competition?’. However, no such change was introduced.
Cooney Committee 1991
In 1991, the Cooney Committee recommended a substantially lessen competition test. The Cooney Committee recommendation resulted in legislative change in 1992, returning the test to one of 'substantial lessening of competition' and introducing a non-exhaustive list of matters the Court must consider in making this assessment (s 50(3))
Review of draft merger guidelines 1998
Ahead of the publication of the 1998 Merger Guidelines (now replaced by 2008 Guidelines) a review was conducted by the Industry Commission. See:
Merger Regulation: A review of the draft merger guidelines administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (1996)
Report of the Industry Commission
Dawson Committee 2003
In 2002, numerous submissions were made to the Dawson Committee recommending that the substantive test for mergers change back to one of dominance, incorporate an ‘efficiency’ test or incorporate a public benefit test. The Dawson Committee recommended that the substantive test of ‘substantial lessening of competition’ be retained and this was accepted by the government.
Procedurally, the Dawson Committee made recommendations relating to merger clearance and authorisation processes which came into effect in 2007. In particular, the power to hear merger authorisation claims at first instance moved from the ACCC to the Tribunal and a formal merger clearance process was introduced, to operate in parallel with the successful informal process.
See Dawson Committee Report - Chapter on Mergers (2003)
Harper Report 2015
In 2014-2015 an independent review of Australia's competition law and policy (the Harper Review) recommended that the current substantive test for mergers be retained. However, it made significant recommendations in relation to process; in particular, it recommended combining the formal clearance process and the authorisation process (retaining the informal process) and giving the power back to the ACCC to make a determination on formal applications at first instance. The Government accepted these recommendations in 2015 and in 2017 legislation was passed to give effect to the changes. These changes will come into operation in April 2018.
Other jurisdictions
Canada
Innovation and Dynamic Efficiencies in Merger Review (April 2007)
Europe
DG Comp, EC, Merger Remedies Study (October 2005)
New Zealand
United Kingdom
OFT/CC Review of Merger Guidelines (initiated 2008; includes links to Guidelines)
United States
On merger guidelines
Pre-Merger/Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (resources from FTC)
International reports and recommendations
International Competition Network (ICN)
Recommendations
ICN Guiding Principles for Merger Notifcation and Review
Adopted at 2002 Annual Conference (First Annual Conference, Naples, Italy, 28-29 Sept 2002)
ICN Recommended Practices for Merger Notification and Review Procedures
Adopted at First Annual Conference, Naples, Italy (September 28-29, 2002). Revised and/or comments added: Second Annual Conference, Mérida, Mexico (June 23-25, 2003); Third Annual Conference, Seoul, Korea (April 21-22, 2004); Fourth Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany (June 5-8, 2005); Fifth Annual Conference, Cape Town, South Africa (May 3-5, 2006)
ICN Recommended Practices for Merger Analysis
Adopted at Seventh Annual Conference, Kyoto, Japan (April 14-16, 2008). Revised Eighth Annual Conference, Zurich, Switzerland (June 3-5, 2009) and Ninth Annual Conference, Istanbul, Turkey (April 27-29,2010)
Reports
ICN Merger Working Group Interim
Report on the Status of the
International Merger Enforcement Cooperation Project (13th Annual Conference, Marrakech, April 2014)
Merger Working Group Comprehensive Assessment 2010-2011
The Merger Working Group, 10th Annual Conference of the ICN, The Hague, Netherlands, May 2011
ICN Information Requirements for Merger Notification (June 2009)
Prepared by the Notification & Procedures Supgroup and presented at the 8th Annual Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, June 2009
Setting Notification Thresholds for Merger Review
Seventh Annual Conference,Kyoto, Japan, 14-16 April 2008
Defining Merger Transactions for Purposes of Merger Review (2007)
Presented at Sixth Annual Conference, Moscow, Russia (May-June 2007)
Merger Remedies Review Report
From the Fourth Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany (June 2005)
ICN Implementation of the ICN Recommended Practices for Merger Notification (April 2005)
ICN Merger Notification Filing Fees (April 2005)
Developed by Merger Notification & Procedures subgroup - report (27 pages) discusses the various types of filing fee regimes.
ICN Merger Remedies Review Report (June 2005)
Developed by ICN Merger Working Group: Analytical Framework Subgroup
for the fourth ICN annual conference, Bonn (59 pages)
ICN Report on the Costs and Burdens of Multijurisdictional Merger Review (November 2004)
Prepared by
Mergers Working Group: Notification and Procedures Subgroup (26 pages)
ICN Report on Merger Guidelines (April 2004)
This links to the overview chapter of the Project on Merger Guidelines
prepared by the ICN Merger Working Group: Analytical Framework Subgroup for the third ICN annual conference in Seoul. Other chapters are: Market Definition, Unilateral effects, Coordinated Effects, Barriers to entry and expansion and Efficiencies.
ICN Merger Investigative Techniques Compendium of Investigative Tools
Report setting out results from a 2002 questionnaire submitted to ICN members - second annual conference, Merida, Mexico (June 2003)
NGA Report on Implementation of ICN Recommended Practices for Merger Notification Procedures
Analyses from a survey of agencies and private practices how recommended practices on notification procedures are implemented.
NGA Survey - Jurisdictional Matrix of Merger Laws
ICN The Analytical Framework for Merger Control 2002
Discussion paper produced for First Annual Conference, Naples, Italy (28-29 September 2002). Related the this, the following country exemplars were produced:
Australia Exemplar - Allan Fels, Merger Law in Australia (11 September 2002)
ICN Framework for Merger Review Cooperation
Document undated, but uploaded to ICN site 12 June 2012
ICN Model Confidentiality Waiver (Mergers) (Discussion Paper)
Developed by Merger Notification & Procedures subgroup. Iillustrative agency waiver forms.
OECD
OECD Reports
OECD 2013 Report on the OECD/ICN Survey on International Enforcement Cooperation
DAF/COMP/WP3(2013)2, Working Party No 3 on Co-operation and Enforcement. 26 February 2013. See also Executive Summary of the Report.
OECD 1999 Report on Positive Comity
OECD 1999 Report on Notification of Transnational Mergers
OECD Policy Roundtables
OECD Competition Policy Roundtables
OECD, 'Jurisdictional nexus in merger control regimes' (Rountable to be held in June 2016)
OECD Policy Rountables: Market Definition (2012) DAF/COMP(2012)24 (11 October 2012)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Economic Evidence in Merger Analysis DAF/COMP(2011)23 (27 July 2012)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Failing Firm Defence (DAF/COMP(2009)38) (2009) (Roundtable No 103)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Managing Complex Mergers (DAF/COMP(2007)44) (2007) (Roundtable No 83)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Vertical Mergers (DAF/COMP(2007)21) (2007) (Roundtable No 68)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Merger Remedies (DAF/COMP(2004)21) (2004) (Roundtable No 48)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Media Mergers (DAFFE/COMP(2003)16) (2003) (Roundtable No 44)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Mergers in Financial Services (DAFFE/CLP(2000)17) (2000) (Roundtable No 29)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Airline Mergers and Alliances (DAFFE/CLP(2000)1) (2000) (Roundtable No 26)
OECD Policy Roundtables: Failing Firm Defence (OCDE/GD(96)23) (1995) (Roundtable No 2)