Law Department
Global Competition & Antitrust
Competition law decides which deals close, which pricing strategies are legal and which market positions attract regulators. This hub covers the practice worldwide β when you need merger clearance and where the 2026 thresholds sit, the landmark cases from Microsoft to Google and Apple, how cartels are detected and confessed, where dominance becomes abuse, the new gatekeeper rulebooks in Brussels and London, and the compliance architecture that keeps companies out of all of it. Forty-five in-depth guides, built around real decisions of the European Commission, the US agencies, the UK CMA, TΓΌrkiye’s Rekabet Kurumu and China’s SAMR.
Explore Competition & Antitrust
Nine focus areas, forty-five guides. Click any card to jump to that section.
Focus Area 1Merger Control & Filing ThresholdsWhen does a deal need a competition authority’s approval? Thresholds in the US, EU, UK, TΓΌrkiye and China, the standstill obligation, gun-jumping fines and how multi-jurisdictional filings are managed.View articles βFocus Area 2Landmark Antitrust CasesThe decisions that built modern competition law β Microsoft, Google, Apple, Standard Oil and AT&T β plus the mergers regulators blocked and the lessons dealmakers took from each.View articles βFocus Area 3Cartel Enforcement & LeniencyPrice fixing, bid rigging, market sharing and information exchange: how cartels are defined, detected, fined and confessed β with the leniency race that ends most of them.View articles βFocus Area 4Abuse of DominanceDominance is legal; abusing it is not. Market definition, the Intel effects test, predatory pricing, margin squeeze, essential facilities, exclusivity and loyalty rebates.View articles βFocus Area 5Digital Markets RegulationThe EU’s Digital Markets Act and the UK’s DMCC regime, the first gatekeeper fines, killer-acquisition scrutiny and the opening front of AI competition enforcement.View articles βFocus Area 6Competition Compliance for CompaniesBuilding a program that works, surviving a dawn raid, governing trade-association contacts, antitrust due diligence in M&A and the damages claims that outlast every fine.View articles βFocus Area 7Vertical Agreements & DistributionResale price maintenance, the block exemption safe harbour, selective and exclusive networks, online sales and platform bans, and how agency and franchising change who may set the price.View articles βFocus Area 8State Aid & Subsidy ControlWhen public support becomes illegal aid, the notification and recovery machinery, the β¬13 billion Apple tax-rulings saga, the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation and the UK’s post-Brexit regime.View articles βFocus Area 9Sector-Specific EnforcementWhere the general rules meet industry structure: pay-for-delay and drug pricing in pharma, unbundling and withholding in energy, margin squeeze in telecoms, trading cartels and interchange in finance, and surcharges and slots in transport.View articles β
Focus Area 1
Merger Control & Filing Thresholds
When does a deal need a competition authority’s approval? Thresholds in the US, EU, UK, TΓΌrkiye and China, the standstill obligation, gun-jumping fines and how multi-jurisdictional filings are managed.
When Do You Need Competition Authority Approval for a Merger or Acquisition?A complete guide to when mergers and acquisitions need competition authority approval: control, thresholds, standstill obligations and β¦Read more βMerger Filing Thresholds in 2026: US, EU, UK, TΓΌrkiye and China ComparedSide-by-side 2026 comparison of merger notification thresholds in the US, EU, UK, TΓΌrkiye and China β with the traps hidden inside eachβ¦Read more βWhat Is Gun Jumping in Merger Control β and How Big Are the Fines?What counts as gun jumping, why fines reached β¬432 million, and the clean-team discipline that keeps a signed deal safe until clearanceβ¦Read more βHow Does a Merger Review Work? Phase I, Phase II, Remedies and DeadlinesPre-notification to prohibition: how merger reviews really run, what triggers Phase II, and how Microsoft/Activision and JetBlue/Spiritβ¦Read more βCross-Border M&A: How to Manage Merger Filings in Multiple JurisdictionsFootprint mapping, filing sequencing, FDI and FSR overlays, and the five SPA clauses that allocate antitrust risk in cross-border Mβ¦Read more β
Focus Area 2
Landmark Antitrust Cases
The decisions that built modern competition law β Microsoft, Google, Apple, Standard Oil and AT&T β plus the mergers regulators blocked and the lessons dealmakers took from each.
The Microsoft Antitrust Cases: What They Decided and Why They Still MatterWhat US v. Microsoft and the EU decisions really held, why the breakup died on appeal, and how the framework powers Big Tech enforcemenβ¦Read more βThe Google Antitrust Cases Explained: Search, Android, AdTech and What Comes NextFrom the β¬2.42bn Shopping fine to the US search remedies and the β¬2.95bn adtech decision β the complete map of Google’s antitrustβ¦Read more βFrom Standard Oil to AT&T: When Do Regulators Break Up Companies?Only two giant breakups in a century β why, and what makes Google’s ad stack and Meta’s acquisitions the live candidates noβ¦Read more βApple’s Antitrust Battles: App Store, Music Streaming and the DMAOne App Store, four verdicts: how US courts, EU abuse law, the DMA and Asian legislation each judged Apple’s platform rules.β¦Read more βFive Mergers Regulators Blocked β and What Dealmakers LearnedFive deal deaths, five different weapons: divergence, politics, neutrality, potential competition and litigated blocks β with the lessoβ¦Read more β
Focus Area 3
Cartel Enforcement & Leniency
Price fixing, bid rigging, market sharing and information exchange: how cartels are defined, detected, fined and confessed β with the leniency race that ends most of them.
What Counts as a Cartel Under Competition Law?Price fixing, bid rigging, market sharing, output limits β what makes an arrangement a cartel, the landmark cases and the widening circβ¦Read more βHow Do Cartel Leniency Programs Work? Immunity, Markers and the Race to ConfessFull immunity for the first to confess: how markers, conditions and reduction ladders work β and why the trucks cartel produced outcomeβ¦Read more βBid Rigging in Public Procurement: Techniques, Red Flags and EnforcementCover bidding, suppression, rotation and payoffs: how rigged tenders work, the statistical red flags, and what bidders and procurers muβ¦Read more βHow Are Cartel Fines Calculated? EU, US and TΓΌrkiye ComparedAffected sales Γ duration, entry fees, the 10% cap, twice-the-gain US fines and TΓΌrkiye’s regime β the arithmetic behind cartel pβ¦Read more βInformation Exchange and Hub-and-Spoke Cartels: Where Cooperation Becomes CollusionFuture-price exchanges, hub-and-spoke liability without contact, and pricing algorithms as the new hub β the collusion frontier mapped.β¦Read more β
Focus Area 4
Abuse of Dominance
Dominance is legal; abusing it is not. Market definition, the Intel effects test, predatory pricing, margin squeeze, essential facilities, exclusivity and loyalty rebates.
What Is Abuse of a Dominant Position? Definition, Tests and Leading CasesWhen market power becomes liability: dominance tests, the abuse categories, Intel’s effects-based revolution and how the EU, US aβ¦Read more βHow Do Authorities Define Markets and Measure Dominance?SSNIP mechanics, the evidence that really decides boundaries, dominance stress-testing and the digital-market overlays β competition laβ¦Read more βPredatory Pricing and Margin Squeeze: When Low Prices Break the LawAKZO’s bands, Brooke Group’s wall, TeliaSonera’s squeeze doctrine: when aggressive pricing by dominant firms crosses β¦Read more βRefusal to Deal and Essential Facilities: When Must Dominant Firms Share?When control of a bottleneck creates a duty to share: the Bronner conditions, the US-EU divide, constructive refusal and the data-accesβ¦Read more βExclusive Dealing, Tying and Loyalty Rebates: The Dominant Firm’s Distribution RisksExclusivity, tying, retroactive rebates and parity clauses: where distribution strategy becomes abuse β and the redesigns that keep proβ¦Read more β
Focus Area 5
Digital Markets Regulation
The EU’s Digital Markets Act and the UK’s DMCC regime, the first gatekeeper fines, killer-acquisition scrutiny and the opening front of AI competition enforcement.
What Is the EU Digital Markets Act β and Who Counts as a Gatekeeper?Designation thresholds, the obligation catalogue, enforcement machinery and the strategy questions β the EU’s gatekeeper rulebookβ¦Read more βDMA Enforcement So Far: Fines, Specification Decisions and What Comes NextThe first fines, the specification regime and the open docket: what two years of DMA enforcement established β and where the 20% tier aβ¦Read more βThe UK’s DMCC Regime: Strategic Market Status and Conduct RequirementsDesignation, bespoke conduct requirements, PCIs and merger reporting: the UK’s firm-by-firm answer to the DMA β and what it demanβ¦Read more βKiller Acquisitions: Why Regulators Now Watch Big Tech’s Smallest DealsFrom Instagram to AI acqui-hires: how merger control rebuilt itself to see deals whose harm lives in a future that never happens.β¦Read more βAI and Competition Law: Chips, Compute, Partnerships and the New Enforcement FrontierRegulators’ declared do-over: how competition law is mapping AI’s chokepoints β chips, compute, models, distribution β befoβ¦Read more β
Focus Area 6
Competition Compliance for Companies
Building a program that works, surviving a dawn raid, governing trade-association contacts, antitrust due diligence in M&A and the damages claims that outlast every fine.
Focus Area 7
Vertical Agreements & Distribution
Resale price maintenance, the block exemption safe harbour, selective and exclusive networks, online sales and platform bans, and how agency and franchising change who may set the price.
Focus Area 8
State Aid & Subsidy Control
When public support becomes illegal aid, the notification and recovery machinery, the β¬13 billion Apple tax-rulings saga, the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation and the UK’s post-Brexit regime.
EU State Aid Rules Explained: When Is Public Support Illegal?Grants, tax rulings, guarantees and cheap land: what makes public support illegal aid β and why the company, not the government, repaysβ¦Read more βState Aid Notification and Recovery: How the Procedure Actually WorksWhy compatible aid still gets repaid: the notification procedure, recovery with compound interest, and the national-court route that moβ¦Read more βThe EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation: The Third Gate on European DealsNon-EU subsidies inside the single market: the FSR’s M&A and tender filings, the distortion test, and the data problem most β¦Read more βTax Rulings as State Aid: Apple, Fiat, Amazon and What SurvivedA decade of tax-ruling decisions, the reference-system rule that killed most of them, and the one that delivered β¬14 billion.β¦Read more βSubsidy Control Beyond the EU: The UK Regime and the Global RulesSelf-assessment, advisory scrutiny and one-month challenges: how the UK replaced state aid law β and how WTO rules discipline subsidiesβ¦Read more β
Focus Area 9
Sector-Specific Enforcement
Where the general rules meet industry structure: pay-for-delay and drug pricing in pharma, unbundling and withholding in energy, margin squeeze in telecoms, trading cartels and interchange in finance, and surcharges and slots in transport.
Pharmaceutical Competition Law: Pay-for-Delay, Excessive Pricing and Pipeline MergersPatent settlements as cartels, 2,600% price rises as abuse, and mergers decided on molecules years from market β pharma’s distincβ¦Read more βCompetition Enforcement in Energy Markets: Unbundling, Withholding and State AidStructural commitments that divested networks, conduct rules on withholding and access, and the state aid layer that decides which enerβ¦Read more βTelecoms Competition Law: Margin Squeeze, Access and the 4-to-3 Merger DebateThe sector that built margin-squeeze doctrine and reshaped merger proof standards β access abuse, squeeze tests and the 4-to-3 consolidβ¦Read more βCompetition Enforcement in Financial Services: Benchmarks, Interchange and AccessChat rooms as cartels, interchange as price fixing, and NFC access as an essential facility β how competition law arrived on the tradinβ¦Read more βTransport and Aviation Competition Law: Cartels, Slots and Rescue AidSurcharge cartels, slot-based merger remedies and infrastructure access: how competition law works where capacity is scarce and crises β¦Read more β
Frequently Asked Questions
When do you need permission from a competition authority?
Whenever a transaction creates a lasting change of control and the parties’ turnovers exceed a jurisdiction’s notification thresholds β in mandatory, suspensory regimes such as the EU, US, TΓΌrkiye and China you must file and wait for clearance before closing, even if the deal raises no competition concerns at all. In 2026 the headline triggers are $133.9 million deal value in the US, β¬5 billion combined worldwide turnover (with β¬250 million each for two parties in the EU) under the EUMR, TRY 3 billion combined Turkish turnover in TΓΌrkiye, and RMB 12 billion worldwide with RMB 800 million each in China.
What is the difference between a cartel and abuse of dominance?
A cartel is coordination between competitors β price fixing, bid rigging, market sharing, output limitation β and is illegal regardless of the participants’ market shares. Abuse of dominance is unilateral conduct by a single powerful firm, and it requires dominance first: the same exclusivity contract or rebate scheme can be perfectly lawful for a challenger and an infringement for a market leader.
How large can competition fines get?
Up to 10% of a group’s worldwide turnover per infringement in the EU and TΓΌrkiye β the EU trucks cartel alone produced β¬3.8 billion, and Google has faced over β¬11 billion in abuse decisions. The US adds criminal liability with prison sentences for individuals, and in most major cartels the follow-on damages claims ultimately exceed the public fines.
Can a supplier tell its dealers what price to charge?
No β resale price maintenance is a hardcore restriction in the EU and TΓΌrkiye, illegal at any market share, and the most frequently enforced vertical rule in Europe. Suppliers may recommend prices or set maximum prices, and may control resale prices only through genuine agency arrangements where the principal carries the commercial risk.
Is government funding a competition law issue?
In the EU, yes: public support meeting the four conditions of Article 107(1) is state aid, and unlawful aid is recovered from the company with compound interest β as Apple’s roughly β¬14 billion Irish recovery showed. The UK now operates its own subsidy control regime, and the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation extends similar discipline to non-EU government support inside the single market.
Does competition law apply to companies outside the country?
Yes. Almost every regime applies an effects doctrine: foreign-to-foreign conduct and mergers are caught when they affect the local market. Two non-Turkish companies with sufficient Turkish sales can require a filing in Ankara without any local subsidiary, and global cartels are routinely fined in parallel by the EU, US, TΓΌrkiye, Brazil, Korea and others.
About this hub. The Kurums Law editorial team maintains these guides using published decisions and official sources from the European Commission, the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority, TΓΌrkiye’s Rekabet Kurumu and China’s SAMR. Content is general information, not legal advice; thresholds and rules change frequently, so confirm current positions with qualified competition counsel before acting on any transaction or conduct.
