ANTITRUST - Mergers, Competition summit 2013

Antitrust mergers and monopolies summit, Brussels, December 2013

 

 

 

 

 

OFFICIAL PROGRAMME - COMPETITION SUMMIT 2013  (as of 5 September 2013)

DAY 1     THURSDAY DECEMBER 5 DAY 2     FRIDAY DECEMBER 6
  • MORNING PLENARIES

    8:30 am

    Keynote Introduction

    8:50 am

    Regulation Policy and Deterrence by Competition Authorities in Times of Crisis: True Dilemmas?

    Balancing fines and expected cartel or ADP profits

    Increasing deterrence via personal liability ?

    Enforcement via improved cooperation

    Philip Collins Chairman OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING \ United Kingdom

    Bruno Lasserre President AUTORITÉ DE LA CONCURRENCE \ France

    Dan Sjöblom Director General KONKURRENSVERKET \ Sweden

    9:50 am

    Antitrust Challenges and Compliance Programmes in the Boardroom

    Are Board members & C-Level executives aware enough of antitrust and merger control risks?

    How do roles of GCs and CCOs evolve?

    How are shareholders feeling concerned?

    Facing media coverage

    Which impacts on sales? Valuation of assets? Market capitalization?

    The full panel of this plenary session will be known soon. Please come back for frequent updates.

    10:30 am

    Coffee Break

    MORNING WORKSHOPS

    STREAMS 1–3

     

     

    1. ANTITRUST COMPLIANCE

     

    2. INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

     

    3. PATENTS & STANDARDS

    11:00 am

    1A The costs of insufficiency
    or non-compliance

    The educational role of authorities and their recommendations to companies

    Non-mandatory condition and little or no influence on mitigation by the authorities: Is it always true?

    Are compliance programmes effective in adopting better business practices? How to measure their effectiveness?

    Is a poor programme worse than nothing?

    What is the TCO v. ROI ratio of antitrust compliance? How to assess the benefits of past prevention

    Reaping more benefits: which innovative drivers for antitrust compliance, beyond the fear of punishment?

    With notably (confirmed):

    Olivier Caremans
    Vice President & Global Competition Officer, General Counsel EMEA & India INGERSOLL RAND INTERNATIONAL \ Belgium

    Patrick Spillaert
    Vice President AUTORITÉ 
    DE LA CONCURRENCE
    \ France

    Chair

    Mélanie Thill-Tayara
    Partner NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT LLP \ France

    2A Antitrust in the financial sector:
    beyond the awakening

    Draft legislation on interchange fees, reviews of Payment Services and E-Money Directives, of SEPA Governance, etc

    Has antitrust awareness raised among investment bankers, after recent cases?

    Financial v. antitrust compliance charters: relevance/scopes, differences/similarities, pros & cons of 'one-size-fits-all' approach

    Antitrust co-op with financial authorities

    Preventive measures, reporting of failure

    The efficiency of whistle-blowers’ systems in the financial & banking areas

    Incestuous relationships between state aid and antitrust enforcement: is it a myth?

    With notably (confirmed):

    Pascal Gianardi
    Chief Antitrust Counsel SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE \ France

    Scott McInnes
    Europe Region Regulatory Counsel MASTERCARD WORLDWIDE \ Belgium

    Chair

    Francesco Rosati
    Partner RBB ECONOMICS \ Belgium

    3A FRAND / fair use & abuse
    of standard essential patents

    Enforcing FRAND: what is the role of courts and agencies in antitrust claims?

    Article 101: what role does Article 101 play in standardisation and implementation?

    De facto standards: should antitrust rules be applied differently to de facto standards over standardised technologies?

    Effective problem-solving: ex ante rules or ex post intervention?

    Jean-Yves Art
    Associate General Counsel MICROSOFT \ Belgium

    Mathew Heim
    Senior Director Government Affairs & Counsel QUALCOMM \ United Kingdom

    Douglas Sorensen
    Director of IP & Licensing STMICROELECTRONICS \ United States

    Chair

    Jean-François Bellis
    Partner VAN BAEL & BELLIS \ Belgium

    12:00 pm

    1B Managing risks: assessment
    and mitigation

    Assessing the level of compliance of your company vis-à-vis competition rules – Methodology of competition audit

    Analyzing your compliance programmes and drafting revisions based on the assessment of risks/potential risks – Need for recurrent actions?

    Should antitrust preventive measures be adapted to subsidiaries, geographies and business segments?

    Who is at risk in the organization? Who should be trained, and how?

    Antitrust insurance: how does it work?

    With notably (confirmed):

    Thierry Boillot
    Senior Legal Counsel Antitrust & Compliance LAFARGE SA \ France

    Joost Wiebenga
    Chief Ethics/Compliance Counsel, Deputy General Counsel EMEA TYCO \ The Netherlands

    Chair

    Frédéric Puel
    Partner FIDAL INTERNATIONAL \ France

    2B Energy Markets: The Question of Minority Shareholding

    Most international energy providers hold multiple shareholdings in other energy companies around Europe. Over the past years some EC Authorities have been increasingly interested in the interlink between the various market players. In Germany for instance, the FCA reviewed the acquisition of a 10.5% stake in a downstream company.

    Questions:

    What is the impact of such extension of the merger control filing obligation on energy markets?

    What is the test to be applied?

    What is the impact on vertical integration?

    Is the review of minority shareholdings a new indirect unbundling tool?

    How about LNG or natural gas projects in form of a consortium? What is the possible impact on Art. 101 TFEU assessment?

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. Please come back for frequent updates.

    Chair

    Christian Filippitsch
    Partner NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT LLP \ Belgium

    3B Patent wars: an assessment
    of their impacts

    What are the patent wars consequences on the economy, growth, employment, innovation?

    Allowing NPEs or PAEs to sue competing innovative ones: is it that simple?

    What’s the impact on R&D? Analysing legal fees, damages, settlement amount and indirect costs..

    Will the Unitary Patent be a game changer in patent wars?

    Do regulators need to intervene to cure the potential damages made?

    What to expect from the German Court of Düsseldorf’s question to the ECJ regarding the enforcement of standards & essential patents?

    Is the EC making efforts to limit the availability of the seeking of injunctive relief?

    With notably (confirmed):

    Jenni Lukander
    Director, Global Head of Competition Law NOKIA OY \ Finland

    Pr. Yassine Lefouili
    Assistant Professor in Economics TOULOUSE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS \ France

    Chair

    Miguel Rato
    Partner SHEARMAN & STERLING LLP \ Belgium

    1:00 pm

    Lunch/Networking

    AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS

    STREAMS 4–6

     

     

    4. ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT I

     

    5. MERGER CONTROL

     

    6. INTERNET & ANTITRUST

    2:30 pm

    4A Proportionate fines:
    scenarios and formulas

    Fines proportional to unjust profit made through infringement. To which extent?

    Per Se rule vs. Effects-based legal standards, how to maximize deterrence?

    Taking the degree of legal uncertainty in account: setting up optimally-fixed fines

    The superior deterrence effect of legal uncertainty: welfare-enhancing

    Assessing compliance as a fine mitigation factor through scale: a good option?

    Which such a maximum fine of 10% of annual turnover? Making adjustments

    With notably (confirmed):

    Peter Lepoutre
    Senior Legal Counsel BELGACOM \ Belgium

    Jean-Yves Trochon
    Vice President AFJE* \ France
    *French association of corporate counsels

    Chair

    Nathalie Jalabert-Doury
    Partner MAYER BROWN LLP \ France

    5A Remedies package: getting it right for approval

    Effectiveness & proportionality

    Displaying a thorough market study: structural or behavioural remedies: when ?

    Market-share: broader view of the market

    Choice of remedies. The unbundling in anticipation: selling activities and assets to third parties to grant access to a network

    Market-testing the remedies

    Pleading for a logistical improvement & increased consumer welfare: more services and efficiency at a lower price

    Kathleen Dierckx
    Associate General Counsel, Competition Law SOLVAY \ Belgium

    Marie-Hélène Huertas
    Vice President, Competition & Compliance VIVENDI \ France

    Maurice de Valois Turk
    Director, Regulatory Economics LIBERTY GLOBAL EUROPE \ United Kingdom

    Chair

    Simon Baxter
    Partner SKADDEN ARPS SLATE MEAGHER & FLOM LLP \ Belgium

    6A Selective distribution & vertical agreements

    Quantitative selective distribution: recent case law with wider effects?

    The picky issue of online sales and geographic area parameters

    The right path for selective distribution: an objective proportionate approach

    Dealing with the cumulative effect of parallel networks on the market

    Collapsing national exceptions? The case of pharmaceutical drugs in emporiums

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Hanne Melin
    Policy Strategy Counsel EMEA E-BAY \ Belgium

    Chair

    Michel Ponsard
    Partner UGGC & ASSOCIÉS \ France

    3:30 pm

    Coffee Break

    3:45 pm

    4B Class actions: state-of-the-art of EU projects

    Civil prejudices to competition: growing pressure after last years’ consumers’ cases

    White & Green paper: what has the EC consultation spotted? Role of Parliament

    A collective redress with more obvious link between consumer and competition law

    Federating prejudices too small for an individual procedure: what do the undertakings’ lobby really have to fear?

    Lessons from the U.S.: setting up criterion

    Out-of-court paths, compensation agreements: why and how?

    With notably (confirmed):

    André Baladi
    Co-Founder ICGN \ United Kingdom
    Chairman CONVERIUM SECURITIES COMPENSATION FOUNDATION \ The Netherlands

    Vagn Jelsoe
    Acting Executive Director DANISH CONSUMER COUNCIL \ Denmark

    Chair:

    Peter Scott
    Partner NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT LLP \ United Kingdom

    5B Merger simulation: legitimacy? which models?

    Is merger simulation good to anticipate & test deal scenarios? What are its goals?

    Is it hyped? or in the contrary, underrated? Does it really work? Which error margins?

    How to make it work more successfully? Which economic tools for which mergers?

    Are the EU Commission and other antitrust authorities using such methods to evaluate the potential toxicity of M&As?

    What are the tactics used by strategic planning departments in large companies?

    With notably (confirmed):

    Jarig van Sinderen
    Chief Economist AUTHORITY FOR CONSUMERS AND MARKETS \ The Netherlands

    Prof. Dr. Oliver Budzinski
    Head of Economic Theory Department ILMENAU UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY \ Germany

    Chair:

    Dr Frank P. Maier-Rigaud
    Head of Competition Economics Europe NERA ECONOMICS CONSULTING \ Belgium

    6B Vertical restraints BER: focus on luxury goods

    Hard-core clauses; should there be a safe harbour for luxury goods?

    Pro-comp. side) > anti-comp. effects of resale price maintenance (RPM?

    Avoid retailers’ free-riding, quality, image and price reputation: luxury values?

    Market shares & substantive market power: arbitrariness of 30% threshold

    Territorial restrictions (TR): access to best price and higher willingness to pay vs discrimination based on location or nationality. How about parallel trade?

    Why not extending de minimis rule to RPM & TR to firms with 0 to 15% / 15 to 30% share if proven beneficial effects?

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. Please come back for frequent updates.

    Chair

    Philippe Rincazaux
    Partner ORRICK, RAMBAUD, MARTEL \ France

    4:45 pm

    Coffee Break

    5:00 pm

    4C Leniency: what is total
    cooperation? How-to?

    How lenient is the Commission? Earliness and usefulness of the materials supplied

    Exchanging data and negotiating along the process: to which extent?

    From lower fines to immunity: key steps

    The balance between cooperating with authorities & reputation within your sector

    Is leniency as an enforcement tool really incentive for dealing with cartels?

    The ECN Model Leniency Programme

    When national authorities are less lenient than the European Commission

    Peter Camesasca
    Special Counsel SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS \ Belgium

    Thomas Gorham
    Director & Associate General Counsel, Global Antitrust & Trade Relations Practice Group PROCTER & GAMBLE \ Switzerland

    Sari Suurnakki
    Deputy Head of Units Cartels II & Cartels V, Competition DG EUROPEAN COMMISSION \ Belgium

    Chair

    Johan Ysewyn
    Partner CLIFFORD CHANCE LLP \ Belgium

    5C Joint-ventures:
    an exception?

    Mergers or not mergers?

    Which scope of data exchanges?

    Joint-ventures between competitors & non-competitors: is the difference there?

    Case-by-case according to control and ownership: "two parents in", "one in one out", and "two parents out" situations

    How to set-up a joint-venture in sharing just the appropriate authorized information

    Managing a compliance programme: how relationships should be defined?

    The case of horizontal agreements and R&D joint-ventures: pro-competitive effects?

    Joint-venture demergers: new merger cases?

    Sophie Gelbert
    Deputy General Counsel AIR FRANCE \ France

    Rooey Aker
    Corporate Counsel, Competition RIO TINTO PLC. \ United Kingdom

    Nick Woodrow
    Head of Competition Law VODAFONE \ United Kingdom

    Chair

    Mark Tricker
    Partner NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT LLP \ Belgium

    6C Trust and antitrust on the Web & in the Cloud

    Act 1: are lock-ins situations (B2C, B2B, developers...) still issues? Cases of interest

    Act 2: has the definition of a media changed over the past years? What does media market share mean right now?

    Act 3: how do antitrust authorities analyze new business models? Which ones are safe? Which ones can be harmful?

    Act 4: are new generation's SSO (single sign-on) providers such as big social networks trying to take over the Web?

    CCL: What should we learn from Google, Microsoft, Apple and other cases ?

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon.

    6:00 pm

    End of Day 1

    Evening

    Gala Reception at Town Hall's Wedding Room (subject to confirmation)

  • MORNING PLENARIES

    8:50 am

    Opening Address

    Maureen K. Ohlhausen Commissioner FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION \ United States

    9:10 am

    Privacy, Content Ethics and Big Data: New Money, New Horizons for Antitrust?

    Analyzing business models based on free services

    Users as currency: are antitrust authorities competent?

    Best practices for privacy compliance

    With notably (confirmed):

    J. Trevor Hughes President & CEO IAPP \ United States

    9:40 am

    Does the Current Climate Prompts for More Major Mergers or Strategic Alliances & Softer Eligibility Criteria?

    Will EU be able to compete globally without European champions?

    Saving growth & jobs as legal justification for competition analysis, short to long-term

    Failing firm defence: a bitter compromise?

    Controlling minority shareholdings: a way to restrict or develop strategic alliances?

    Paul Csiszar Director, Markets & cases IV: Basic industries, Manufacturing, Agriculture at DG COMP EUROPEAN COMMISSION \ Belgium

    Walter Theiss General Attorney & Associate General Counsel AT&T \ United States

    Chair

    Jacques-Philippe Gunther Partner WILLKIE FARR & GALLAGHER LLP \ France

    10:10 am

    Keynote Address    Vertical Restraints and the Digital Economy

    Andreas Mundt President BUNDESKARTELLAMT \ Germany

    10:30 am

    Coffee break / networking

    MORNING WORKSHOPS

    STREAMS 7–9

     

     

    7. ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT II

     

    8. COUNTRY FOCUS

     

    9. IP & COMPETITION

    11:00 am

    7A Private actions for anticompetitive acts

    The increasing number of cases and settlements

    Private enforcement as a challenge of the leniency system?

    Contradictory messages on access to documents

    Forum shopping for litigation following international cartels

    The Commission’s long march towards legislation on private enforcement

    With notably (confirmed):

    Peter Freeman CBE QC
    Chairman COMPETITION APPEAL TRIBUNAL \ United Kingdom

    Laurent Geelhand de Merxem
    General Counsel, Europe MICHELIN \ France

    Chair

    Pierre Zelenko
    Partner LINKLATERS LLP \ France

    8A US antitrust: practical guide for E.U. companies

    A toolbox to U.S. antitrust law, the Sherman and Clayton Acts

    Which differences between both systems?

    Is the U.S. antitrust system primarily motivated by decisions related to the IT and high-tech sectors? Or is it just media bias?

    Further comparing systems at the state and at the federal/supranational levels

    The roles of the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. How should you plan and handle your case?

    Interactions between private actions and public antitrust enforcement

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Andrés Campaña Ávila
    Global Energy Management and Retail Legal Director IBERDROLA \ Spain

    Chair

    Michael G. Egge
    Partner LATHAM & WATKINS LLP \ United States

    9A Trade Secrets: When do they halt competition?

    Economic advantage over customers and competitors: attracting the attention of competition authorities out of definition

    Unfair competition & trade secrets audits: identifying and monitoring trade secrets inside the EU; coping with the US system

    The scope of reasonable non-compete & non-disclosure clauses

    Expiration of confidential information

    Integrating divergent systems within EU27. Trade Secret Study (2012): what's up next?

    Enforcement problems in practice: irregular performances along the systems

    With notably (confirmed):

    Tina Chappell
    Director of Intellectual Property Policy INTEL CORPORATION \ United States

    Olivier Lemaire
    Head of Legal Immunotherapeutics GLAXOSMITHKLINE \ Belgium

    Chair

    Thomas Tindemans
    Director EU Public Affairs HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES \ Belgium

    12:00 pm

    7B How investigations may lead to more intricate cases

    Legality of 'fishing expeditions' according to the EU General Court

    Discovering proof of corruption while investigating alleged collusions & cartels

    Exchanges of information/exchanges of money; a same final infringement?

    Permeability between competition and anticorruption authorities: legal basis?

    Which European-wide authority to deal with intricate cases?

    Anti-bribery act and the UK response: “the toughest legislation in the world”?

    Does this one have impact on liability for corruption outside the UK?

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Patrick Noonan
    General Counsel, Senior Corporate Vice President, Secretary General NEXANS \ France

    Marielle van de Weijenberg
    Director of Legal Affairs HEIJMANS \ The Netherlands

    8B New & asymmetric trade barriers: fighting on equal terms

    Panorama of new aspects of unfair competition

    How to handle asymmetric enforcement

    Toolbox

    With notably (confirmed):

    Jean-François Brakeland
    Member of the Legal Service EUROPEAN COMMISSION \ Belgium

    Tsai-Wei Chao
    Head of Global Trade Policy ARCELOR MITTAL \ France

    Chair

    Benoît Le Bret
    Partner GIDE LOYRETTE NOUEL AARPI \ Belgium

    9B TTBER & Guidelines: What lies beyond?

    Expiration of the current TTBER on 30 April 2014: what shall be expected in the next issue of the regulation?

    Reviewing the exceptions to Article 101 TFEU in terms of licensing agreements

    Results of the EU public consultation

    Scope of hardcore restrictions and exclusive restrictions

    Specific issues for pharmaceuticals, Internet and high-tech companies

    Luc Peeperkorn
    Policy Analyst-Principal administrator, Antitrust case support and policy Unit, DG COMP EUROPEAN COMMISSION \ Belgium

    Philippe Cassagne
    Vice President, Intellectual Property & Licensing GEMALTO \ France

    Susan Jones
    Head Corporate Legal Antitrust NOVARTIS AG \ Switzerland

    Chair

    Carmen Verdonck
    Partner ALTIUS \ Belgium

    1:00 pm

    Lunch/Networking

    AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS

    STREAMS 10–12

     

     

    10. ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT III

     

    11. NEW CHALLENGES

     

    12. AHEAD OF ANTITRUST

    2:30 pm

    10A Binding commitments: the future of enforcement?

    Is there a right to settle (or not)?

    When should the investigated company consider offering commitments? What to offer? How to manage market test results?

    Is there an exit door and what may the consequences of a withdrawal be?

    A fair, open and transparent process for investigated company & interested parties?

    What are the judicial remedies?

    Is there a preference for behavioural or structural commitments?

    Are commitments enough to restore effective competition in the market?

    Under what circumstances is self-monitoring successful? When is the use of monitoring trustees preferable?

    Which consequences of non-compliance?

    Julia Holtz
    Director Competition, EMEA, India, China GOOGLE, INC. \ United Kingdom

    Ariane Oesterreicher
    Assistant General Counsel, Competition Law Department VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT \ France

    Annick Reisenthel
    Chief Counsel Antitrust, Financial & Risk THOMSON REUTERS \ United Kingdom

    Chair

    Yves Botteman
    Partner STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP \ Belgium

    11A Benchmarking antitrust practices in BRICS

    The role of politics and industrial policy in BRICS countries’ enforcement practices

    Antitrust enforcement priorities in BRICS countries

    Practical implications of global antitrust enforcement

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Ana Paula Martinez
    Head of Antitrust LEVY & SALOMAO \ Brazil

    Chair

    Nicholas Levy
    Partner CLEARY GOTTLIEB STEEN & HAMILTON LLP \ United Kingdom

    12A Globalisation of antitrust & rise of jurisdictions

    The increasing amount of antitrust authorities: adding another level of expectations as to compliance

    Discrepancies in remedies

    Which roles can peer review play in driving comity and standards of review?

    Should companies also cope with laws of the countries where they are not present?

    Economic, civil, criminal law: to which extent can you be found liable? Which appeals and other recourses?

    Worldwide cases: ICN recommendations

    Per which criteria should you choose law and service firms to help/represent you?

    Regional v. national jurisdiction: a new paradigm?

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Kaarli Eichhorn
    Senior Counsel, Competition, Regulation and Government Relations GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY \ Belgium

    Dr Robert Schulz
    Senior Counsel Competition SIEMENS AG \ Germany

    3:30 pm

    Coffee Break

     

    3:45 pm

    10B Dawn raids: relevance & scope of investigations

    The Commission’s revised guidelines on the conduct of dawn raids

    Unclear definition on what can be acceded: oral explanations, seals, statements on a voluntary basis, documentary evidence..

    Rights of defence, legal privilege: “what you 'gonna' do when they come for you” unannounced?

    Which material is liable for proceedings?

    Discovery of other infringements, whether or not antitrust (insider trading...): liability?

    Right to privacy & privilege against self-incrimination: scope of co-op. obligation

    Obstruction & interference with officials gathering electronic data: additional fines?

    Dawn raids put in perspective with ECHR standards: the issue of the restrictive ex post review by the General Court

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Maria Lancri
    Deputy General Counsel HACHETTE LIVRE \ France

    Iain Larkins
    Group General Counsel MERCEDES-BENZ UK \ United Kingdom

    11B Generics: increasing/decreasing drug’s prices?

    Potential adverse and pro-competitive effects of patent settlements

    Criteria for abuses of patent settlements?

    A condition for benefit to customers: the absence of short-run exclusivity restrictions?

    The potential cost for consumers from any delay in the generics entry on the market

    Which ratio between number and size of pharmaceutical industries competing, and cost lowering of the medications?

    Laboratories selling protected medicines at more costly price in order to compensate the loss generated by those no longer patented.

    Borut Lekše
    Deputy Chief Executive & Head of Legal Affairs KRKA \ Slovenia

    François Garnier
    General Counsel Europe PFIZER, INC. \ France

    Henri Piffaut
    Head of Unit, Antitrust in Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices and Health Services Industry EUROPEAN COMMISSION \ Belgium

    12B Hiring collusions: do they violate antitrust laws?

    No-solicitation agreements: a restriction to competition… on the US labour market

    Eliminating competition for skilled employees: indirect harm to social welfare

    Prohibition of cold calls between competitors: partitioning and elevating barriers to free-circulation of workers

    The kind of settlements that can be reached with the regulating authorities

    Are such cases to occur in Europe? Which legislations could apply in EU27?

    A required new look at labour law, business ethics and corporate beliefs. Recruitment as a competitive advantage

    Compliance programmes as a means
    1- to address the risks posed by the rogue employees
    2- to protect employees from personal risks of criminal prosecution or managerial disqualifications

    The full panel of this workshop will be known soon. With notably (confirmed):

    Alexandre Menais
    SVP, Group General Counsel ATOS INTERNATIONAL \ France

    Chair

    Paul Hughes
    Partner STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP \ Belgium

    Afternoon Networking event


 

 

 

 

SPONSORED BY:

 

 

 

Norton Rose Fullbright


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Latham & Watkins


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With more than 2,000 experienced lawyers practicing in Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East, Latham & Watkins has grown into a full-service law firm capable of delivering counseling and representation at a global level. Latham & Watkins offers our clients the resources that only an international business firm can provide while maintaining an on-the-ground understanding of the local markets and an extensive knowledge of industry-specific issues. We have built internationally recognized practices in a wide spectrum of transactional, litigation, corporate and regulatory areas, and have developed one of the top-tier Antitrust team in the world.


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Linklaters


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Linklaters LLP specialises in advising the world's leading companies, financial institutions and governments on their most important and challenging transactions and assignments. With offices in major business and financial centres, we deliver an outstanding service to our clients throughout the world.


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Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP


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Founded in 1888, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm counting approximately 600 attorneys with offices in New York, Washington, Paris, London, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt and Brussels. Our lawyers’ expertise include mergers & acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, antitrust & competition, tax, restructuring, insolvency, public law, debt & project finance, environment and litigation.


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Nera


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NERA Economic Consulting is a global firm of experts dedicated to applying economic, finance, and quantitative principles to complex business and legal challenges. For over half a century, NERA’s economists have been creating strategies, studies, reports, expert testimony, and policy recommendations for government authorities and the world’s leading law firms and corporations. We bring academic rigor, objectivity, and real world industry experience to bear on issues arising from competition, regulation, public policy, strategy, finance, and litigation.


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Cleary Gottlieb


About Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP


A leading international law firm with 16 offices located in major financial centers around the world, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has helped shape the globalization of the legal profession for more than 60 years. Our worldwide practice has a proven track record for innovation and providing work of the highest quality to meet the needs of our domestic and international clients.


Organized and operated as a single, integrated global partnership (rather than a U.S. firm with a network of overseas offices), Cleary Gottlieb employs approximately 1,200 lawyers from more than 50 countries and diverse backgrounds who are admitted to practice in numerous jurisdictions around the world. Our clients include multinational corporations, international financial institutions, sovereign governments and their agencies, as well as domestic corporations and financial institutions in the countries where our offices are located.


For more information, visit www.cgsh.com

Mayer Brown


About Mayer Brown


Mayer Brown is a leading global law firm with offices in key business centers across the Americas, Asia and Europe. Companies seeking consistently well-informed and insightful antitrust and competition counseling around the world turn to Mayer Brown. Our firm has more than 70 lawyers practicing antitrust and competition law who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality service in meeting clients' needs. We fully understand today's complex competition issues, as well as the increasingly complex relationships among corporations in a global economy. As a leader in US and EU competition law, we offer up-to-the minute guidance concerning mergers, cartel investigations, distribution and IP licensing issues, alleged abusive conduct by dominant firms and state aid, which includes counsel at the federal and state levels in the US, and for both member states and the EU in Europe. Adding to our global capabilities, our antitrust lawyers in Hong Kong and China are skilled at navigating the range of competition and other laws impacting trading and licensing arrangements in the region, and offer clients the benefit of extensive China antitrust filing experience and strong relationships with key competition agencies.


For more information, visit www.mayerbrown.com

MAPP


About MAAP


MAPP, a consultancy based in Paris and Brussels, offers microeconomic analysis services with a focus on competition issues. Its expertise covers the entire range of analyses relevant to complex competition cases, in the fields of merger control, unilateral conduct, restrictive agreements, and State aids. MAPP’s reports have been presented to competition authorities and courts in many countries, including the European Commission and European courts.


MAPP has been ranked as the best antitrust economics consultancy in France by the specialized journal Décideurs – Stratégie, Finance, Droit, for four years in a row (2010 to 2013)


For more information, visit www.mapp-economics.com

Fidal


About Fidal


With more than 1,200 lawyers in France and correspondents in 150 other countries, Fidal is the leading business law firm in France, in terms of income and size (source: radiographie des cabinets d’avocats d’affaires en France, Juristes Associés), and the first French law firm ranking in the world top 100. The law firm offers its clients a three-tier expertise: National, with a strong presence in Paris (nearly 400 lawyers) and in regions throughout France; European, with the support of its Brussels office, specialized in Competition law, and International, with 200 lawyers dedicated to international matters. Fidal’s lawyers advise about 40,000 of businesses of all sizes, from small and midsize companies to major groups, all of which benefit from the same high standards of quality and knowledge of the client’s market. The firm’s organization is based on specialized departments which cover the traditional areas of business law (tax law, employment law, company law, mergers & acquisitions, antitrust law, intellectual property law, estate planning, litigation). The Competition team (Paris/Brussels) specialized in competition law assists clients in anticompetitive practices: cartel and abuse of dominant position issues (competition diagnosis, compliance programme, risk assessment, dawn raids…), merger notification (pre-analysis, negotiating with comp authorities, filing notification, negotiating undertakings…) and State aids (analysis of grants and loans, presenting a complaint before the EU Commission, acting before national jurisdiction…)


For more information, visit www.fidal.fr

Hoyng Monegier LLP


About Hoyng Monegier LLP

Hoyng Monegier is the first and only European IP Law Boutique of its kind, with offices in Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid and Paris. We aim to be the best, offering first class service and advice, with leading specialists in IP. We are dedicated to achieving innovative, practical and business-driven solutions and we pride ourselves in having extensive sector-knowledge. Our core practice consists of intellectual property litigation and advice work in all its forms, across all sectors and often played out in parallel in a number of different jurisdictions. Our lawyers are fully familiar with the procedural and practical aspects of European litigation in patents, trademark, copyright and new media. We also have experts that work on patent, trademark and design right advice and prosecution. We are creative not only in our approach to the law, but also in the way we do business with our clients.


For more information, visit www.hoyngmonegier.com

S U P P O R T E D  B Y

AFJE


About AFJE

The French Association of Company Lawyers.


See: www.afje.org

IBJ/IJE


About IBJ/IJE

The Belgian Association of Company Lawyers.

 

See:  www.ije.be


LIDC


About LIDC

The International League of Competition Law.
 www.ligue.org

2013 Congress in Kiev, 19–22 September

LIDC Congress in Kiev 2013

 M E D I A   P A R T N E R

MLex


About MLex

MLex is the largest independent agency in Europe devoted specifically to covering regulatory and policy developments in and among European institutions. We provide exclusive market intelligence, analysis and commentary to finance, investment and legal professionals. MLex offers a range of market intelligence services including MLex Premium, MLex E3 and MLex FS. We have a proven ability to uncover regulatory risk before it breaks into the news and supplying our clients with the latest in-depth coverage of regulatory threats and opportunities ahead of the curve. Without MLex, you simply will not have the whole story.


See: www.mlex.com


 


CONTACTS

Premier Cercle 

Rue du Collège, 27 - B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
For more information: +32 2 627 87 20 

competition@premiercercle.com

 

 

 

 

 

LINKS

 

http://www.premiercercle.com/sites/competition/2013/brussels2013/agenda2days-v1.php

http://www.premiercercle.com/sites/ipsummit/2013/paris2013/

www.ipsummit.info

https://twitter.com/IPSummit

www.competitionssummit.com

http://www.shippinginsight.com/contact/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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