The proposals take the flexibility out of the current system to ensure that no deal over a certain threshold (still to be determined, but likely based on revenue) escapes the regulator’s net.
It brings Australia into line with large jurisdictions offshore, and tries to ensure the ACCC receives the same standard of information and time to make decisions as antitrust agencies looking at the same deal in other markets.
Ultimately, mandatory notification would claw back some power from lawyers who typically handle ACCC informal merger review processes on their clients’ behalf. “But, in reality for these big global deals, where Europe and the US are much bigger markets, it’s often a practical necessity to work on, say, the European filing first, work out what the facts are, and then get counsel to customise the application to address the issues in their country.
It’ll be interesting to see the reforms in more detail, to see exactly how far Cass-Gottlieb wants to go.
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