Economic Regulation Issues October 2009

No Respite for Ship Owners
Huanji International, October 29, 2009

Calls from some ship owners for a temporary respite from Europe’s strict competition rules during the current crisis are being brushed aside by Brussels. Senior European Commission officials are making it clear that there are no plans whatsoever to bring back conferences in any form, despite pleas from several industry leaders in recent weeks.  <<More>>

New Bill
New American, October 28, 2009

The Obama bill would grant vast powers to a new systemic risk regulatory council, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to monitor and address risks to economic stability posed by shaky financial holding companies.  <<More>>

Missed Deadline
Advfn India, October 27, 2009

Differences between the US Transportation Department and the Justice Department are contributing to delays in the Transportation Department's ruling on a proposed alliance between AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, British Airways PLC and Spain's Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España SA, according to people familiar with the case.  <<More>>

RBI for Tighter Regulations
Domain-b.com, October 27, 2009

While India has been less affected by the global crisis than most other countries because of our relatively cautious policies, prudent regulation and effective supervision, India too has to further strengthen regulation at the systemic and institutional levels, make supervision more effective and value adding while improving risk management skills.  <<More>>

Reviewing Analysis
Europa Press Releases, October 26, 2009

The Commission reminds APEK that regulatory remedies should be imposed on appropriately defined markets. Earlier APEK identified a market for access to unbundled local loops, the so-called last mile, and imposed a full set of remedies including price control on the dominant operator, Telekom Slovenije. <<More>>

Reconsidering Regulation
Europa Press Releases, October 26, 2009

The European Commission calls on the Danish telecoms regulator, IT- og Telestyrelsen (NITA), to reconsider its regulatory approach for terminating calls to non-geographic numbers operated by service providers that offer premium rate services to end-users. <<More>>

Hemorrhaging Healthcare System
NewsDaily, October 26, 2009

The US healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud.  <<More>>

Competition Office Blocks Merger
International Law Office, October 22, 2009

The Competition Office recently refused to clear the planned acquisition by Magyar Telekom Nyrt, the Deutsche Telekom-owned Hungarian incumbent, of regional competitor Vidanet Zrt.   <<More>>

Obstacles to Change
The New York Times, October 17, 2009

In unusually harsh terms, President Obama cast insurance companies as obstacles to change interested only in preserving their own “profits and bonuses” and willing to “bend the truth or break it” to stop his drive to remake the nation’s health care system.  <<More>>

Stronger Action on Fixed Termination
Europa Press Releases, October 16, 2009

The Commission has urged the UK regulatory authority for telecommunications, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), to impose price control and non-discrimination obligations on all communication providers regarding their fixed termination rates (FTRs).   <<More>>

Health Insurance Antitrust Exemptions
Department of Justice Blog, October 14, 2009

The Senate Judiciary Committee in US hosted a hearing on “Prohibiting Price Fixing and Other Anticompetitive Conduct in the Health Insurance Industry” on October 14, 2009. In September 2009, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy introduced the Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act to repeal the federal antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies.  <<More>>

Act Restricts Unilateral Amendments
International Law Office, October 09, 2009

Parliament has adopted a bill that amends Hungary's banking legislation by restricting banks' rights unilaterally to amend or modify consumer loan agreements and allowing customers to rescind such agreements without charge. <<More>>

Financial Reform Signed into Law
International Law Office, October 09, 2009

The President has signed the Colombian Financial Reform Law (1328/2009) into law. The law introduces certain changes to the regulatory framework of the financial system, the most remarkable innovation being the establishment of the multi-fund system in the pensions and severance funds regime. <<More>>

Renewed Competition Test
The Grocer, October 06, 2009

Convenience retailers in the UK are urging the government to adopt the Competition Commission recommendation for a competition test in retail planning applications, which would limit the power of supermarkets to open new stores in areas where they are already dominant. <<More>>

Antitrust Regulator Opens Probe
Capital.gr, October 05, 2009

Spain’s antitrust regulator, the CNC, had opened a probe to investigate Spanish electricity companies Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC), Endesa SA (ELE.MC) and Gas Natural SDG SA (GAS.MC) among others, for possibly abusing their dominant market positions.<<More>>

Commission Raises Serious Doubts
Europa Press Releases, October 05, 2009

The European Commission has called on the Austrian telecoms regulator, Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs GmbH (RTR), to suspend the adoption of regulatory measures regarding the definition of the Austrian broadband access market, the so call bitstream access market.  <<More>>

New Competitive Landscape
Commerce Commission, October 05, 2009

The Commerce Commission has reached separate agreements with seven financial institutions settling the Commission’s claims that they breached the Commerce Act, and ushering in a new competitive landscape for the credit card industry in New Zealand.  <<More>>

Draft BER for Insurance Sector
Europa Press Releases, October 05, 2009

The European Commission is inviting comments by November 30, 2009 on its revised draft Block Exemption Regulation (BER) for the insurance sector. The current insurance Block Exemption Regulation, which will expire on March 31, 2010, exempts certain agreements between insurance companies from the EC Treaty's ban on restrictive business practices. <<More>>

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