Enhanced role for OFT in merger policy Proposals to reform merger control and enhance the role of the OFT have been welcomed by John Vickers, the Director General of Fair Trading. The reforms, announced by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, would largely remove ministerial involvement from the control process. The OFT would continue to make a competition assessment of mergers and, under the new proposals, would refer cases requiring further investigation to the Competition Commission.
Primary legislation is required to enact the new policy.
In the interim, the Secretary of State has said that he will accept the Director General's advice on whether to refer mergers to the Competition Commission in all but exceptional cases. You are welcome to print off these pages, link to them, or reproduce them so long as you do not do so for financial gain or distort the information contained here. We welcome your comments on any aspect of this service. Please remember that the information on these pages can only provide general guidance and should not be read as a substitute for the law.