Brexit: the implications for competition law

The effect of a Brexit on UK competition law will depend on how the UK defines its post-Brexit relationship with the EU. Whatever the outcome, additional costs, regulatory burdens and uncertainty are likely to result from the need for companies to comply with both EU competition law and a separate (and in due course, potentially divergent) UK competition law regime. Businesses operating in the UK and the EU will need to be aware of the risk of parallel cartel investigations (and fines), parallel merger control notifications in some circumstances, and the importance of antitrust compliance in general.