Zaven Mardirossian explains to the AFR’s economics editor, John Kehoe, that draft laws released by Treasury last week will provide the regulator with “unfettered discretion to knock back mergers based on broad theoretical and economics concepts, rather than market realities”, effectively establishing the ACCC as “judge, jury and executioner” on deals.
“At the same time, the draft legislation shields the commission from the accountability and independent rigour of our courts that have consistently and with good reason rejected a series of head scratching merger decisions by the ACCC,” he said.
While ACCC chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb said that consultation on the draft legislation would help to ensure the reforms achieved their intended objectives, competition lawyers quoted in the article said the government’s decision to allow stakeholders only three weeks to comment on 90 pages suggested the process was being rushed.
“This is not legislation that can or should be rushed through the system,” said Zaven. “The consequences could be severe.”
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Earlier this year, in an article published in the Australian Financial Review, competition partners Zaven Mardirossian and Gabriel Sakkal argue that a feature of the proposed merger reforms that has slid under the radar to date is the ACCC’s unprecedented attempt to push for changes that will shield its decision-making from the scrutiny of our court system. Read more here.
