It is also an offence to provide such information to another person knowing that it is to be given to the Competition Commission. The Competition Commission must not, subject to certain exceptions, disclose without permission information about a business obtained in the course of an inquiry. The exceptions include disclosure for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of the Competition Commission, or making its report. Normally the Competition Commission is required to assess the effect on the public interest of the particular matter under investigation. Thus the public interest is at the heart of the Competition Commission's work.
Special provisions apply to newspaper mergers .
The Competition Commission is required to take into account all relevant circumstances and particularly the need for accurate presentation of news and free expression of opinion. Special provisions also apply to references relating to the modification of licences of regulated utilities . Each privatisation Act specifies the matters which should be considered in an assessment of the public interest for the utility. If a utility is the subject of a monopoly, merger or anti-competitive practices reference, then the FTA public interest criteria apply, but there are special public interest criteria which are considered in certain mergers between water companies . For example, in the case of a merger report the Competition Commission could recommend that the merger should not be allowed to take place.