Antitrust and Trade Regulation/International Law: Canadian Competition Bureau Announces Plans to Revamp Merger Guidelines

On February 25, the Canadian Competition Bureau issued an announcement that it plans to "undertake moderate revisions to the Merger Enforcement Guidelines (MEGs)." The anouncement made clear that the Competition Bureau plans to address only "certain discrete areas where the MEGs do not fully reflect current Bureau practice and current economic and legal thinking."

Specific areas that the Bureau stated it is exploring for possible revision include: (1) "additional guidance on monopsony issues, consistent with the Competitor Collaboration Guidelines, and our OECD submission on this topic"; (2) "how the Bureau assesses transactions in which minority interests or interlocking directorates are at issue, building on the Bureau’s OECD submission on this topic"; (3) "clarif[ication] that merger review is not a linear process that must start with market definition, but rather an iterative process in which evidence of market concentration is considered alongside other evidence of competitive effects, with the goal of determining whether a merger creates or enhances market power"; (4) "more detailed guidance on how the Bureau assesses the unilateral effects of a merger, particularly in light of current economic thinking"; (5) clarif[ication of] the framework used to assess coordinated effects"; (6) "more accurate guidance on how the Bureau assesses vertical issues, focusing on foreclosure effects"; and (7) "incorporat[ion of] the Efficiencies Bulletin into the MEGs." The Bureau "intends to publish the revised draft MEGs during the second quarter of 2011, and to seek public feedback on the revisions prior to publishing the final revised MEGs in the Fall."