International Mergers Conference

About the conference

This first edition of the International Mergers Conference will take place in University College London on Wednesday 19 February 2020. The conference is organised by Concurrences in partnership with University College London with the support of panel and media sponsors. Attendance is by registration only. No on-site registration. Photos will be taken at the event; attendees agree for the organiser to use these photos, unless otherwise required. The list of participants will be communicated to the speakers.

The programme

08.15 Coffee & Registration

08.45 Introductory remarks Deni MANTZARI | Lecturer, Competition Law and Policy
Acting Director, Centre for Law, Economics and Society, University College London

09.00 Opening discussion - New Challenges for Competition Law: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Brexit, FDI, Public interest...

Sir John VICKERS | Warden of All Souls College, Oxford
Frédéric JENNY | Chairman, OECD Competition Committee, Paris

09.45 Panel 1 - Rethinking the judicial scrutiny of merger enforcement in the digital era: administrative burden, standard of proof and judicial revie

Eugène BUTTIGIEG | Judge, General Court of the EU, Luxembourg
Peter FREEMAN CBE QC (Hon) | Chairman, Competition Appeal Tribunal, London
Colin RAFTERY | Senior Director for Mergers, Competition and Markets Authority, London
Ingrid VANDENBORRE | Partner, Antitrust/Competition, Skadden, Brussels
Moderator: Richard WHISH QC (Hon) | Emeritus Professor, King’s College London

11.15 Coffee Break

11.30 Panel 2 - Digital mergers: Need for Reform?

Luisa AFFUSO | Chief Economist, Ofcom, London
Thilo KLEIN | Executive Vice President, Compass Lexecon, London/Berlin/Düsseldorf
Claire JEFFS | Partner, Slaughter & May, London
Nate MILLER | Expert, Cornerstone Research - Saleh Romeih Associate Professor, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
Pierre REGIBEAU | Chief Economist, DG COMP, Brussels
Moderator: Amelia FLETCHER | Professor, University of East Anglia, Norwich

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Panel 3 - Merger control and ’non-competition concerns’: Industrial Policy, Geopolitics, Sustainability, Privacy

Hanna ANTTILAINEN | Head of Unit B4: Energy and Environment (mergers), DG COMP, Brussels
Etienne CHANTREL | Head of Mergers Unit, Autorité de la concurrence, Paris
Damien NEVEN | Professor of Economics, The Graduate Institute, Geneva, affiliated to Compass Lexecon
Bill KOVACIC | Professor, George Washington University - Non-executive Director, CMA, London
Nicholas LEVY | Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, London
Josh WHITE | Vice President, Analysis Group, London
Moderator: Ioannis KOKKORIS | Professor, Queen Mary University, London

15.30 Coffee Break

16.00 Panel 4 - Merger Hotchpotch - Enforcement and Procedure: Due Diligence, Gun jumping, Due Process, Remedies

Sara ASHALL | Counsel, Shearman & Sterling, London/Brussels
Manish DAS | Head of Competition Law, Lloyds Banking Group, London
Irene DE ANGELIS | Head of Antitrust Affairs, Intesa Sanpaolo, Milan
Frank QI | Senior Legal Counsel, Qualcomm, San Diego
Anneleen STRAETEMANS | Head of Legal & Corporate Affairs - Europe, ZX Ventures, London
Chair: Helen JENKINS | Partner, Oxera, Oxford*

17.30 Closing discussion

Simon HOLMES | Ordinary member, Competition Appeal Tribunal, London
Ioannis LIANOS | President, Hellenic Competition Commission - Professor of Global Competition Law and Public Policy, Faculty of Laws, University College London (on leave)

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