United Kingdom: Trade Regulation & Practices

The European Commission has completed its first statutory review of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, three years after the regime entered into force. While declaring the FSR "fit for purpose," the Commission acknowledges that notification procedures impose disproportionate burdens on businesses and signals targeted procedural adjustments for 2027. The review examines enforcement activity across mergers, public procurement, and ex-officio investigations, revealing compliance challenges and stakeholder conce

The Competition and Markets Authority has dramatically increased its enforcement activity, imposing over £5.7M in fines in early 2026 and accelerating investigation timelines under new statutory duties. Businesses face heightened scrutiny across consumer protection practices, from advertising to commercial operations, requiring immediate attention to compliance frameworks and rapid-response capabilities.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has imposed its first conduct requirements on Google under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, targeting how the tech giant handles publisher content in AI-generated responses, ranks businesses in search results, and enables data portability. These legally enforceable obligations go beyond European Union requirements and open the door for affected companies to take direct legal action against Google for non-compliance.

In a decision that could have implications for many different products, the Scotch Whisky Association has won an important battle geographical indicators before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The presumption that rebates granted by dominant companies in exchange for customers buying all or most of their requirements from the dominant company ...

With online sales now integral to many retail businesses, the issue of whether luxury goods suppliers can stop goods which qualify for selective distribution from being sold via third party platforms such as Amazon and eBay is more important than ever.

The first year of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) was a busy one for banks – and for supervisors.

In a case regarding Post Danmark's rebate structure, the European Court provided further guidance on the legality of rebates and discounts offered by dominant firms.

The CMA has published its provisional findings in its review of personal current accounts and SME banking, provisionally finding that that low customer engagement, barriers to switching and search and incumbency advantages were leading to adverse effects on competition (AECs) in both markets.