The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority will be organising a seminar entitled Competition Law – How Does it Affect You? on Friday between 8.30am and 1pm at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.
The seminar, which will be addressed by a number of competition law experts and will cover various substantive and procedural issues, will be opened by MCCAA chairman Marcel Pizzuto and closed by Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Protection and Civil Liberties.
Sylvann Aquilina Zahra, director general of the Office for Competition, will be delivering a presentation on cartels. She will be explaining, among other things, why undertakings engage in cartel activity, the harmful effect of cartels on consumer welfare, the consequences on cartelists and the remedies for victims of cartels.
Stefan Vella and Marice Grech will be providing an overview on the concepts of dominance and abuse from a legal and economic perspective. In particular, the presentation will focus on how the office proceeds on alleged abuse of dominance cases and will explain how the definition of the market and the competition assessment are undertaken.
Examples of types of abuse and how these are investigated will also be discussed.
Lisa Abela and Ms Grech will discuss the national approach to the merger and acquisition regulations. As in most European jurisdictions, it is mandatory for certain transactions occurring in Malta to be notified to the Office for Competition before they can go through. The seminar will provide a brief overview of when, how and why companies may be affected by the Control of Concentrations Regulations.
There will also be a discussion on the procedures before the office. In this context, Dr Aquilina Zahra and Dr Abela will be explaining priority setting by the Office for Competition and the rights and obligations of complainants.
Aloysius Bianchi will focus on the powers of the Office for Competition to investigate effectively suspected competition law infringements, the outcome of the investigation stage and when the office can adopt infringement or commitment decisions.
He will also explain the main features of the draft regulations concerning immunity from fines and reduction of fines in cartel investigations.
Paul Micallef Grimaud will be raising a series of practical issues relating to the application of competition law and anti-trust investigations carried out by the Office for Competition.
The aim is that of posing a number of questions and soliciting the audience’s reactions to come up with identifiable action points for stakeholders to take stock of.
The public is urged to participate, gather as much information as possible and to contribute to the discussion.
Attendance is free. However, registration must be done online at www.mccaa.org.mt or by calling 2395 2000.
This is the fourth in a series of five seminars being organised as part of an information campaign aimed at creating greater awareness about the responsibilities of the MCCAA and rights and obligations of consumers and traders.
This information has been provided by the Office for Competition at the MCCAA.
odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt
Odette Vella is senior information officer, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.