Antitrust Law/International Law: U.K. Announces Merger of Competition Regulators

On October 14, the United Kingdom Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced proposals to strengthen competition regulation by merging the Competition Commission (CC) and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to form a single competition and markets authority. The OFT, the presumptive survivor of the proposed merger, issued a supportive statement by its Chief Executive, John Fingleton. A statement by Vince Cable, Secretary of State of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, explains the background and purpose of the proposed merger at greater length.