The CC’s Northern Ireland Banking Market Investigation – an absence of effective regulation?

The UK Enterprise Act introduced the market investigation, a new instrument that allows the Competition Commission (CC) to analyse markets in which there is “an absence of effective competition” and, where applicable, to implement remedies. The market investigation powers have been trumpeted as a device that will enable the competition authorities to fix problems and benefit consumers in areas that could not easily be reached by the mainstream competition laws against abuse of dominance and restrictive agreements.

This Brief takes a critical look at the CC’s market investigation into banking in Northern Ireland. We assess whether…