2 results
Malta
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- By Eugène Buttigieg, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
- General editor Maher M. Dabbah, Queen Mary University of London, Paul Lasok QC
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- Book:
- Merger Control Worldwide
- Published online:
- 05 November 2014
- Print publication:
- 31 May 2012, pp 930-942
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- Chapter
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Summary
Relevant legislation and statutory standards
Malta had its first ad hoc merger control legislation in 2003 with the promulgation of the Control of Concentrations Regulations in 2002, which entered into force on 1 January 2003. Prior to that date, the government agency responsible for competition law enforcement, the Office for Fair Competition, had attempted to curb anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions through the application of the general provisions of the antitrust statute, the Competition Act, in particular through the provisions prohibiting collusive practices and abusive conduct that are modelled on Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Several undertakings had actually sought clearance from the Office before concluding a merger or acquisition because Article 10 of the Competition Act had obliged undertakings to seek negative clearance from the Office if they believed, or reasonably ought to have believed, that an agreement or concerted practice or conduct might have fallen within the prohibition. However, in most cases the provisions of the Act were found to be inadequate tools for proper merger control either because the concentration could not be classified as an ‘agreement’ or ‘concerted practice’ or because, as happened in the Supermarkets Concentration case, the acquiring firm was not in a dominant position prior to the merger but would have acquired dominance only as a result of the merger. Indeed, in that case, the Commission for Fair Trading, the independent tribunal entrusted with the adjudication of serious competition-related infringements, strongly advocated the promulgation of ad hoc merger regulations to address this lacuna.
18 - Malta
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- By Eugene Buttigieg, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, Lino Briguglio, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
- General editor Maher M. Dabbah, Queen Mary University of London, K. P. E. Lasok QC
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- Book:
- Merger Control Worldwide
- Published online:
- 30 July 2009
- Print publication:
- 29 May 2008, pp 94-96
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- Chapter
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Summary
Relevant legislation and statutory standards
The Control of Concentrations Regulations (the “Regulations”) were amended on 13 March 2007 by the Control of Concentrations (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (the “Amending Regulations”). The latter regulations modified the notification threshold and the time-limit for notification of merger operations, introduced a notification fee and formalised the procedure for third-party objections and deleted the guidelines attached to the Regulations in the Schedule, as will be described below.
Notification requirements and procedures
The notification threshold in the Regulations had often been criticised as casting the net too wide, thereby catching even concentrations with no effect or with an insignificant effect on the Maltese market. Caught by the notification requirement were all concentrations, including those concluded and implemented outside Malta, where at least one of the undertakings concerned had an aggregate turnover in Malta of Lm750,000 (equivalent to €1,747,035) in the preceding financial year. With a view to restricting the scope of the notification requirement, the Amending Regulations raised the turnover threshold to Lm1,000,000 (equivalent to €2,329,380). Moreover, for a concentration to be notifiable it is no longer sufficient for just one of the parties to the transaction to have a turnover in Malta but it is now necessary that all the undertakings concerned each have a presence in Malta through a sales turnover equivalent to 10% of the combined turnover of all the undertakings concerned.