Virgin Media’s £31bn tie-up with O2 given provisional green light by watchdog
Virgin Media’s £31 billion mega-merger with telecoms firm O2 has been provisionally cleared by the UK competition watchdog.
Competition and Markets Authority
Facebook removes 16,000 groups trading in fake reviews after watchdog probe
Facebook has removed more than 16,000 groups trading in fake and misleading reviews following pressure from the UK’s competition watchdog.
Tech giants ‘on notice’ as new digital regulator arrives to tackle dominance
Big tech firms are “on notice”, the Culture Secretary has warned as the UK’s new digital regulator gets started on its mission to curb market dominance.
New regulator aimed at curbing dominance of tech giants gets to work
A new technology regulator created to rein in the dominance of tech giants has swung into action, looking first at how codes of conduct could work.
Fortnite maker files Apple complaint to competition watchdog
The maker of Fortnite has filed a complaint with the UK’s competition watchdog, accusing Apple of anti-competitive behaviour over the way it runs its App Store.
Uber takeover of UK-based taxi software maker cleared by watchdog
Uber’s takeover of British tech firm Autocab has been cleared by the competition watchdog.
Argos extended warranty customers to share £500,000 in goodwill gesture
Thousands of Argos customers are to share more than £500,000 of e-gift card payments, after the firm failed to remind people they could shop around when taking out an extended warranty.
Teletext Holidays told to pay up for cancelled holidays or face court action
Teletext Holidays has failed to refund many of its customers and must sign a formal commitment or risk court action, the competition watchdog has warned.
CMA opens path to approving Viagogo’s £3.2bn StubHub takeover
The merger of ticket resellers Viagogo and StubHub looks set to be approved, after the companies reached a preliminary deal with the UK regulator.
Housebuilders Countryside and Taylor Wimpey warned over unfair leaseholds
Housebuilders Countryside and Taylor Wimpey could be breaking the law if they continue to include deeply unfair ground rent terms in contracts for new homes, according to the competition watchdog.
Government to scrap accountancy regulator and break up Big Four dominance
The UK’s accountancy regulator should be scrapped and replaced with a new body that has legal powers to improve the quality and standards of the auditing profession, the Government has said.
Three directors banned after companies formed lead cartel
Three men have been banned from being directors of UK companies after the firms they worked for admitted forming an illegal cartel.
Apple’s App Store under investigation by UK competition watchdog
The UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Apple over complaints that its terms and conditions for app developers are unfair and anti-competitive.
Google ‘will not build new ways to identify users once third-party cookies gone’
Google has vowed not to build new ways of tracking users across the internet as it makes plans to scrap third-party cookies on Chrome.
Estimated 2m people ‘left out of pocket for flights they could not board’
More than two million people have not received money back for flights they were unable to board during the coronavirus pandemic, Which? estimates.
UK needs competition rules for the digital age – report
A report authored by a Conservative MP has called for a new Competition Act to make the UK’s competition law fit to serve in the digital age.
Lastminute.com faces court action unless it pays £1m of outstanding refunds
Online travel agent Lastminute.com has been threatened with court action by the competition watchdog for failing to pay out refunds to some customers.
Viagogo told to sell StubHub’s international business for £3bn merger to pass
Viagogo will have to find a buyer for the international arm of StubHub if it wants to gain approval for its four billion US dollar (£3.2 billion) takeover of the company.
Nearly half of green claims made by firms could be misleading – global study
Close to half of green claims made by companies could be misleading, according to a new study by competition regulators around the world.
Google ‘confident’ third-party cookie alternatives are right for ads and privacy
Google has said it is confident that proposals to scrap third-party cookies on Chrome are right for the web despite questions about the impact it could have on sites dependent on them for revenue.
Watchdog calls for greater oversight of algorithms
Algorithms used to serve people suggested content, services and other options online can reduce competition and potentially harm consumers, a UK watchdog has warned.
Apple clarifies privacy label plans after criticism from WhatsApp
Apple has confirmed that new privacy labels being added to apps in the App Store will apply to the firm’s software as well as third-party downloads, after WhatsApp claimed the system unfairly favoured the tech giant.
WhatsApp hits out at Apple over new App Store privacy rules
WhatsApp has criticised Apple’s new data privacy labels for apps in the App Store, claiming they are unfair on some developers.
Facebook accused of failing to stop fake review sales on its site
Facebook has been accused of failing to stop the sale of fake reviews through its website more than a month after being urged to act on the issue by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Asda sacrifices profits in bid to stay competitive ahead of Sainsbury’s merger
Asda sacrificed its profits for a tentative turnaround in sales last year, as it struggled to hold on to its market share ahead of a mega-merger with Sainsbury’s.
Asda sacrifices profits in bid to stay competitive ahead of Sainsbury’s merger
Asda sacrificed its profits for a tentative turnaround in sales last year, as it struggled to hold on to its market share ahead of a mega-merger with Sainsbury’s.
Asda sacrifices profits in bid to stay competitive ahead of Sainsbury’s merger
Asda sacrificed its profits for a tentative turnaround in sales last year, as it struggled to hold on to its market share ahead of a mega-merger with Sainsbury’s.
Asda sacrifices profits in bid to stay competitive ahead of Sainsbury’s merger
Asda sacrificed its profits for a tentative turnaround in sales last year, as it struggled to hold on to its market share ahead of a mega-merger with Sainsbury’s.