Mar. 27, 2024 - Substantial amendments to the Investment Canada Act (ICA) were enacted on March 22, 2024, with the passing of Bill C-34, the National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act. These amendments, long in the works, will come into effect on a date to be fixed by Cabinet. It...
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Anita Banicevic Speaks to the Financial Post About Competition Commissioner’s Focus on Enforcement
In an article published this week in the Financial Post, Anita Banicevic shared her thoughts on the direction of Canada’s Competition Bureau under its new Commissioner, Matthew Boswell.
“We’re already starting to see the Commissioner’s focus on active enforcement playing itself out, and what that inevitably means is that there will be more litigation,” Anita said.
Commissioner Boswell explained that vigorous enforcement will be a Bureau priority and that he intends to use a variety of enforcement tools that the Bureau has at its disposal, including oral examinations and injunctions. “The Bureau is trying to get as litigation-ready as possible,” Anita explained. “That includes greater resort to injunctions pending litigation.”
Commissioner Boswell has also established a new “merger intelligence” unit so as to allow the Bureau to detect and review mergers that do not exceed the thresholds for mandatory notification. “The Bureau is clearly looking for other ways to bring transactions forward for review,” Anita noted. “So expanded intelligence gathering could result in considerably more scrutiny of mergers that fall below the thresholds.”
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Mar. 13, 2024 - The Canadian government recently issued two policy statements (IDM Statements) affirming that it will enhance its scrutiny under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) of foreign investments in the Canadian Interactive Digital Media (IDM) sector. One of the statements sets out the...
