The Freshfields Podcast

Essential Antitrust #37: Antitrust in 2024: competition enforcement takes center stage

In our first Essential Antitrust podcast of 2024, host Jenn Mellott is joined by Alastair Chapman, Ninette Dodoo and Mark Sansom to explore some of the themes highlighted in “Global antitrust in 2024: 10 key themes”, our recent report on the biggest trends in antitrust for the year ahead.

With insights from the US, UK, EU and Asia, we predict how antitrust will continue to be used as a wide-ranging tool in 2024 – from aggressive enforcement targeted at digital markets and AI to novel theories of harm in M&A, and from risks and opportunities at the intersection of antitrust and sustainability to the expansive use of abuse and monopolization claims in antitrust damages actions to pursue general consumer or unfair competition issues.

Businesses that want to stay one step ahead will need a global strategy to navigate these evolving and dynamic challenges.

Legends of Tech #1: Turing with Vint and Whit: Boris Feldman in conversation with Vinton G. Cerf and Whitfield Diffie

Boris Feldman, Freshfields Partner, interviews two of the most prominent pioneers of technology - Vinton G. Cerf, one of the ‘fathers of the internet’ and Whitfield Diffie, a leading inventor of public-key cryptography. Listen in for a fascinating discussion on the origin of technologies that have changed the course of history, and predictions for how technology will continue to change our futures.

Essential Antitrust Asia #9: updates with ABNR on antitrust in Indonesia

In this episode in our Essential Antitrust Asia, Laurent Bougard speaks to Bilal Anwari and Gustaaf Reerink from ABNR Law in Indonesia, which is part of Freshfields’ StrongerTogether network. Together, they explore the evolving landscape of Indonesia's updated merger control regime, highlighting opportunities and potential pitfalls for foreign investors. This discussion will shed light on enforcement trends, potential challenges in dealing with the local regulator, and strategic insights crucial to navigating the Indonesian regulatory landscape.

Managing Risk in Asia #8: Opportunities for Asian and US investors post-US Executive Order on outbound investments

President Biden’s Executive Order 14105 on outbound investment restrictions is expected to take effect in 2024. While this policy may not be the sweeping “reverse CFIUS” regime that many in industry anticipated and feared, it nonetheless represents a disruptive shift in investment dynamics for Asian and US investors.

In this podcast, Ninette Dodoo is joined by Arun Balasubramanian, Aimen Mir, Alan Wang and Jonathan Zhou to discuss the nuances of this policy shift and the implications on investment strategies for Asian and US investors. They explore the strategic decisions businesses are taking to adapt to the evolving regulatory landscape when pursuing new opportunities and as they seek to thrive in an increasingly complex global investment environment.

Tax Matters: Trends in tax disputes – what should businesses be aware of?

Back in October, the global Freshfields Tax team published the Tax investigations and disputes across borders guide which, among other things, provided an overview of current trends in corporate tax disputes and gave some predictions for the future.

In our latest podcast, London Tax partner Sarah Bond, Düsseldorf Tax partner Philipp Redeker and London Tax knowledge lawyer Laura Western explore these points in more detail, including:

• The increased scrutiny of cross-border structures and arrangements, with tax authorities using a variety of tax rules (including anti-avoidance provisions) to do so;
• Transfer pricing disputes becoming more common and more difficult to resolve, with this becoming an 'evergreen' contentious tax trend;
• The multitude of jurisdiction-specific trends in domestic tax disputes, including challenging partnerships with mixed members or salaried members in the UK and auditing management participation programmes in Germany;
• Tax authorities across the globe adopting more aggressive approaches than they historically have done, both in terms of the position taken and the penalties imposed;
• The variety of settlement options in different jurisdictions, and the increased likelihood of taxpayers considering litigation if a negotiated outcome is not forthcoming; and
• The potential impact of tax transparency measures and developments in technology on tax disputes in the years ahead.

Essential Antitrust #36: The UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill – what you need to know

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will introduce the most significant reforms to UK competition and consumer laws since the CMA was established in 2014.

The Bill is on track to take effect next year and is making its way through the UK Parliament.  But its passage has been far from smooth sailing and fundamental questions about the Bill remain.

In this episode of our Essential Antitrust podcast, our host Jenn Mellott is joined by Sharon Malhi and Rikki Haria to explore the main features of the Bill and unpack its impact on businesses.

Essential Antitrust #35: Gender Inclusive Antitrust Toolkit: a new lens for policy and enforcement

In September 2023, the OECD and Canadian Competition Bureau published the Gender Inclusive Antitrust Toolkit. Designed to help competition authorities apply a gender lens to enforcement, the toolkit features key conclusions on how gender can be factored into merger review, evaluation of competitive effects in conduct investigations, detection of cartels and broader public interest considerations. 

Our host Jenn Mellott unpacks these important and timely findings in this episode of Essential Antitrust, joined by Nicholas French, partner in London, Vanessa van Weelden, principal associate in Brussels and Morag Elwis, associate in Silicon Valley. Together, they offer insights on how the toolkit may impact competition authorities and private companies.

Tax Matters: Autumn Statement 2023 – tax cuts in the NIC of time?

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has delivered the Autumn Statement 2023.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reports that the UK economy has proved to be more resilient to the shocks of the pandemic and energy crisis than anticipated, but with growth forecasts for the next two years reduced and the UK inflation rate expected to be more persistently high, the Chancellor had only modest fiscal firepower at his disposal.  That headroom was used to send a political message about the Conservative Party’s priorities, with tax cuts for both businesses and workers announced.

In our latest podcast, London Tax partners Peter Clements and May Smith and London Tax senior associates Josh Critchlow and Chris Gotch discuss some of the business tax measures they found the most noteworthy in the Autumn Statement 2023, including:

• Making full expensing capital allowance rules permanent, giving companies a 100% first-year allowance for capital expenditure on main rate assets;
• Further changes to the research and development (R&D) tax relief regime, including merging the existing R&D expenditure credit and SME R&D tax relief schemes, and expanding the scope of the previously-announced additional relief for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs;
• Various steps aimed at supporting the energy transition and encouraging oil and gas investment, including introducing an exemption from the Electricity Generator Levy for new projects or extensions, confirmation the Energy Profits Levy will end in 2028 (or earlier if energy prices fall below levels set by the Energy Security Investment Mechanism), and bringing forward new measures to incentivise carbon capture, utilisation and storage;
• Reductions to various classes of NICs, benefitting both employed and self-employed workers;
• Announcements relating to the UK’s implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax reforms, including that the Under-Taxed Profits Rule (UTPR) will apply from January 2025 and the Offshore Receipts in respect of Intangible Property (ORIP) rules will be abolished from that date; and
• On stamp duty/SDRT, the expansion of the growth market exemption, and an update on the government’s proposal to legislate to ensure the higher rate charge on the issue and certain transfers of UK shares and securities into clearance services or depositary receipt systems is not reintroduced from January 2024.

How secondaries have become primary to GPs and LPs

With Tim Clark, Global Head of Private Funds and Secondaries at Freshfields, and Pablo Caló, Managing Partner of Fairview Capital.

Join industry leaders Tim Clark and Pablo Caló as they discuss the evolution of the secondary market and share insights from their experiences.

In this episode, Tim and Pablo delve into Pablo’s career arc, detailing how he ventured into secondary transactions and founded Fairview Capital. They explore the transformations in the secondary market over their careers and highlight the essential elements of successful GP-led transactions.

Discover the nuances of managing potential friction with LPs and LPACs, especially regarding conflicts and expenses in GP-led deals. Tim and Pablo provide valuable advice on minimising investor franchise risk and optimising deal approval.

The conversation also explores the rise of single asset continuation vehicles, addressing the shift from traditional exit tools and the significance of secondary buyers contributing dry powder for future growth.

Tim and Pablo navigate the complexities of the secondary marketplace, discussing the impact of artificial intelligence, drivers behind LP-led sale transactions, and the emerging trends in regions like Asia Pacific and Latin America.

From chaos to control: making the case for legal project managers

Olivia Wyld and Johanna Nerona speak at Legal Geek, a legal tech conference, about how we use legal project management and empathetic leadership to support the management of matters and to go from chaos to control.