REGULATORY REVIEW

NOVEMBER 2019

Welcome

by John Doherty (head of regulatory)

and Ed Weightman (regulatory review editor)

This is our latest regulatory review. Once again we have a compilation of articles, produced by members of our expert regulatory team and covering a range of regulatory issues highlighted by recent cases or announcements:

Ed Weightman on the wider regulatory lessons from Ofwat’s record fine of Southern Water; James Groves on the CMA’s Casio decision on digital retail and price maintenance; and a report on an important online privacy rights 'opt-out' class action case from John Doherty.

As always, do contact the team if you would like to discuss any of these issues, or other regulatory questions.

We will be continuing to bring you regulatory updates through the winter and into 2020, so watch this space for more.

Lessons from Southern Water: considering the bigger picture across other regulatory regimes

by Ed Weightman

Water industry regulator Ofwat recently landed Southern Water with a penalty and redress package of £126 million following wastewater spillages from sewage plants. Beyond the headline figures and stories of failure, there are a number of points of wider application for regulated businesses.

Read the full article

Digital piano manufacturer sanctioned to the tune of £3.7 million for not playing by the rules

by James Groves

The Competition and Markets Authority has fined digital piano and keyboard manufacturer Casio Electronic £3.7 million for breaking competition law by preventing downstream retailers from setting their own online prices for Casio products. The fine is the largest to date for this type of anti-competitive behaviour.

Read the full article

Caught with its hand in the cookie jar, Google must now pay the price for its infringement of privacy rights

by John Doherty

The Court of Appeal has provided a green light to a representative class action against Google LLC brought on behalf of users of Apple’s Safari internet browser whose privacy rights were allegedly deliberately ignored and denied for commercial gain. The landmark decision in October overturned Mr Justice Warby’s dismissal of the claim 12 months ago.

Read the full article

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