One of the steps for closer cooperation between BRICS competition authorities could be the launch of a "merger radar", which would allow monitoring transactions in all jurisdictions of the organization.
BRICS antitrust regulators are determined to cooperate more closely on merger and acquisition control, according to a survey presented at the 2nd BRICS Digital Competition Forum in Rio de Janeiro.
The BRICS Competition Centre of the HSE University conducted a survey of regulators in the partner countries, which was devoted to the problems of cooperation on global M&A and opportunities for deepening cooperation in this area. The results showed that there is a demand for closer cooperation in reviewing global economic concentration transactions. The results of the survey will be discussed with antitrust authorities and will form the basis of the BRICS Centre's report on cooperation mechanisms for global M&A.
Among the possible steps are the development of a coordinated system of control over M&A transactions, the launch of a "merger radar" that would allow monitoring transactions in all BRICS jurisdictions and prevent companies from withholding information from regulators, the development and signing of a new cooperation agreement between antimonopoly agencies, and the creation of a permanent interdepartmental office to coordinate work on reviewing transactions. All these steps towards closer cooperation have already received support from the BRICS competition authorities.
About the Forum
The 2nd BRICS Digital Competition Forum is taking place on November 16-17 in Rio de Janeiro. Among its participants are representatives of regulators from the new BRICS member countries that will join the organization in 2024, including Egypt, Argentina and Iran. Antitrust practitioners and researchers from BRICS countries and Europe are also participating in the forum.
The forum's topics included challenges and best practices in competition law and policy in digitalization, as well as competition in food markets. The forum included a BRICS working group on researching competition issues in digital markets.
The forum is organized by the International BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre of the HSE University in cooperation with the research center FGV and the Brazilian antitrust authority CADE.
Source: TASS
