Competition Commission
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| Non-departmental public body overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 April 1999 |
| Dissolved | 1 April 2014 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Website | www |
The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It was tasked with ensuring healthy competition between companies in the UK for the ultimate benefit of consumers and the economy.
The Competition Commission replaced the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on 1 April 1999. It was created by the Competition Act 1998, although the majority of its powers were governed by the Enterprise Act 2002.
The Enterprise Act 2002 gave the Competition Commission wider powers and greater independence than the MMC had previously, so that it could make decisions on inquiries rather than giving recommendations to Government, and was also responsible for taking appropriate actions and measures (known as remedies) following inquiries which had identified competition problems.
The Government was still able to intervene on mergers that involve a specified public interest criterion such as media plurality, national security and financial stability.
On 1 April 2014 the Competition Commission was replaced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which also took over several responsibilities of the Office of Fair Trading.
The Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission was set up on 1 January 1949, in response to the recommendations of several committees of inquiry into restrictive commercial activity. It was established under the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices (Inquiry and Control) Act 1948. It was reconstituted as the Monopolies Commission on 31 October 1956 by the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1955, which also set up a Restrictive Practices Court and a registrar of restrictive trading agreements. The Commission was again reconstituted, and its powers extended, by the Monopolies and Mergers Act 1965. In 1969 oversight of the Commission passed to the Department of Employment and Productivity, and in 1970 to the Department of Trade and Industry. Under the Fair Trading Act 1973 the Commission became, from 1 November 1973, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, with wider powers to deal with references either from the Office of Fair Trading or from the Department of Trade and Industry. On 1 April 1999, as a result of the Competition Act 1998, it became the Competition Commission.
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