Search for:
Category

Antitrust / Competition

Category

Welcome to the 2023 edition of Baker McKenzie’s Doing Business in Canada, a practical guide to the business and investment legal framework and developments in Canada. We hope that you find this guide a useful and practical resource.

From 9 November 2023, the unfair terms regime will change so that significant penalties may apply for breaches of the UCT regime. As a result, businesses need to look again at their standard terms for unfair terms risks.

On 27 June 2023, the Federal Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General for the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, announced proposed changes to the premerger notification form and associated instructions and rules that implement the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The proposed changes represent an expansion and reorganization of the information collected on the HSR form.

On Friday 16 June 2023, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition issued a strong warning to companies regarding the inclusion of certain types of contract terms that can “impede investigations” and “are contrary to public policy and unenforceable.” Specifically, the announcement warned against confidentiality clauses, nondisclosure agreements, and “notice of agency contact” provisions, commonly used in business-to-business and employment contracts.

Aiming to prevent anti-competitive policies being issued by various governmental institutions, on 31 March 2023 KPPU – the Indonesian Competition Commission, issued KPPU Regulation No. 4 of 2023 on the Provision of Inputs and Suggestions for Government Policies in relation to Monopolistic and/or Unfair Business Practices. In the past, various governmental policies, particularly on imports, quotas and commodities, have caused market distortion and resulted in KPPU issuing orders against other governmental institutions. Members of the public, including business entities, are welcome to provide input to KPPU if they become aware of a potentially anti-competitive governmental policy.