United Kingdom: Trade Regulation & Practices

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.

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 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.