A List of Competition Regulators

Competition regulators are government agencies often operating on a national basis but occasionally with an international scope. Competition regulators are tasked with regulating and enforcing competition laws (also known as antitrust laws) and may also be responsible for enforcing consumer protection laws. More advanced economies often have an additional agency responsible for formulating competition policy.

In addition, regulators also form supranational or international alliances like the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the ICN (International Competition Network). The International Competition Network is an informal, virtual network that enables cooperation between competition law authorities globally. Membership is indicated with a “Y” in the appropriate column. The recently reformed State Administration for Market Regulation of China is yet to join this organization.

These bodies are of significant interest to the merger arbitrage trader and those employing an event driven investment strategy. Competition regulators may also regulate aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This field is usually taken to include joint ventures and is aimed at regulating or indeed prohibiting the emergence cartels and monopolistic practices. In order to assist the trader, Merger Arbitrage Limited has produced a reference list of competition regulators often mentioned throughout the literature published on this site. Organizations such as the FTC (Hart-Scott-Rodino notifications) and the Competition and Markets Authority  (CMA) already have their own news feeds which traders will find extremely useful.