Our Curious Amalgam

The "dawn raid" is one of the rare moments of high drama in the work of many competition lawyers. How can you be prepared when that early-morning phone call or text from a client comes? Ashley Latham, an antitrust and government investigations litigator with Linklaters LLP, joins Matthew Hall and Matt Reynolds for a discussion of current "dawn raid" trends in the U.S. and the European Union. Tune...

The U.S. Department of Justice has made it clear that some agreements among competing employers regarding workers' salaries or other terms of compensation--so-called "wage-fixing agreements"--may be subject to criminal prosecution. What kind of conduct falls within the scope of wage-fixing? In this episode, hosts Alicia Downey and Blair Matthews talk to Crowell & Moring partner and former senior D...

What happens when antitrust law meets high fashion? In this episode, experienced fashion and luxury industry counsel Andowah Newton, joins Jeny Maier and Puja Patel to unpack recent antitrust cases in the luxury and fashion industries. From the FTC's challenge to Tapestry's acquisition of Capri, to no-poach allegations involving Saks and major fashion houses, to tying claims against Hermès and its...

The UK's consumer protection regime changed early in 2025. How will behavioural economics be used by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in applying the rules? Stefan Hunt, partner at Keystone Strategy in London, joins Matthew Reynolds and Matthew Hall to discuss previous consumer protection cases investigated by the CMA and the new regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Cons...

State legislatures around United States have passed or are on track to pass legislation that requires parties to submit notice to the state attorney general or other state authority when certain transactions result in a material change in ownership. Why are states passing these laws and how are they affecting regulatory review of transactions? Axinn partner Lisl Dunlop joins hosts Alicia Downey an...

While on site at the 2025 Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section, the Our Curious Amalgam team recorded interviews with senior competition agency enforcers from all over the world, including Paraguay and Costa Rica. In the first segment of this episode, Alicia Downey interviews Commissioner Eduardo Barros of Paraguay's National Competition Commission (CONACOM). Following that, Matthew Rey...

While on site at the 2025 Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section, the Our Curious Amalgam team recorded interviews with senior competition agency enforcers from all over the world. In the first segment of this episode, Anora Wang speaks with Ellie Siu, Senior Legal Counsel of the Competition Commission of Hong Kong. Next Matthew Hall interviews Michael Aguinaldo, the Chairperson of the Ph...

Merger control and antitrust enforcement continues to develop rapidly in Africa. What is happening in the key jurisdictions of Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria and COMESA? John Oxenham, lawyer at Primerio, and Nicolas Bremer, lawyer at Bremer, join Matthew Hall to discuss developments. Listen to this episode to learn more about the status of African antitrust and merger control enforcement generally a...

While on site at the 2025 Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section, the Our Curious Amalgam team recorded interviews with senior competition agency enforcers from all over the world, including Germany and Portugal. In the first segment of this episode, James Hunsberger interviews Andreas Mundt, the President of Germany's Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) and Chair of the Steering Gro...

While on site at the 2025 Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section, the Our Curious Amalgam team recorded interviews with senior competition agency enforcers from all over the world, including Italy and Greece. In the first segment of this episode, Jaclyn Phillips interviews Saverio Valentino, Board Member of the Italian Competition Authority. Following that is the conversation between Pano...

While on site at the Antitrust Law Section's 2025 Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., Section Chair-Elect Renata Hesse interviewed Mario Monti, former prime minister of Italy (2011-2013), and European commissioner for competition (1999-2004). What does he think about the current state of international competition enforcement? What direction does he think the U.S. and Europe should take to improve...

Sustainability claims are everywhere in the fashion industry — but how can consumers tell what's real and what's greenwashing? Baker McKenzie attorneys David Baay and Katia Boneva-Desmicht join Jeny Maier and Puja Patel to discuss civil litigation in this space, as well as government enforcement efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, from the FTC's Green Guides review to the European Commission's...

The 2025 Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with competition law enforcers from around the world. In this episode, host Matthew Hall asks Olivier Guersent, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission (DG COMP), about what's been happening in the European Union since we interviewed him at...

We are seeing some swirling changes to the marketplace and international trade that affect prices of goods and services in our daily lives. How can economics help us cope and understand underlying concepts such as cost pass-through? Anne Catherine Faye, Vice President at Analysis Group, speaks to James Hunsberger and Anora Wang about inflation, tariffs, and junk fees, as well as her experience as...

The UK government elected in 2024 has a "growth" agenda and is pushing regulators including the UK Competition and Markets Authority to support this. What does the approach mean for the CMA? Veronica Roberts, lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills, joins Blair Matthews and Matthew Hall to discuss the wide range of recent announcements and proposals from the CMA and government. Listen to this episode to...

New disclosure requirements for U.S. premerger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act were announced in the fall of 2024 and became effective in February 2025. What are the practical implications of the new requirements for in-house counsel tasked with preparing for an HSR filing? In this episode, Matt Bester and Paul Covaleski of Accenture LLP talk to Alicia Downey and Matt Tabas about som...

Market definition plays a central role in antitrust analysis. Is it appropriate for the U.S. antitrust agencies to identify "overlapping markets" and "submarkets" as relevant markets for antitrust purposes? Keith Klovers, Counsel at Latham & Watkins and former advisor to FTC commissioners Christine S. Wilson and Maureen K. Ohlhausen, talks to Blair Matthews and Anora Wang about why, in his view, t...

Cartel enforcement remains a priority for agencies around the world, but in recent years enforcers have continued to focus on domestic cases. With political and personnel changes in the U.S. and across the globe, what can we expect in 2025 and beyond? John Terzaken, Partner and Global Co-Chair of Simpson Thacher's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice, joins James Hunsberger and Jaclyn Phillips...

The AI revolution has arrived, with the recent debut of Chinese AI bot DeepSeek confirming that this is a global market. But what are the data privacy implications of the massive amounts of personal data that companies are collecting to train and deploy their AI models? Rory Macmillan, an expert in data protection and privacy law, joins Alicia Downey and Derek Jackson to discuss recent investigati...

Millions of us use mobile apps to help manage our physical and mental health and wellbeing. How well does existing law protect the private health data collected by these apps? In this episode, hosts Alicia Downey and Kelsey Paine talk to privacy and cybersecurity law expert David Turetsky about the issues posed by healthcare apps that collect sensitive data relating to a user's mental health, repr...

Private class action lawsuits play a significant role in the vindication and development of U.S. antitrust law. But what are attorneys and courts to do when they know there's an injured class, but are not quite sure who's in it and who's not? Tram Nguyen, Ph. D., an economist and Managing Principal at Edgeworth Economics, joins Alicia Downey and Matt Reynolds to discuss how economic analysis can h...

Private antitrust litigation has long been part of the landscape in China. What will be the impact of the Supreme People's Court latest judicial interpretation on the issue? Susan (Xuanfeng) Ning, lawyer at King & Wood Mallesons in Beijing, joins Matthew Hall and Anora Wang to discuss the background to the judicial interpretation and its likely consequences. Listen to this episode to learn more ab...

When it comes to your health, having digitized information available for seamless sharing across multiple healthcare providers and other stakeholders -- including patients themselves -- is a clear benefit. But can certain actors disrupt the goal of interoperability? David Schwartz, a healthcare-focused antitrust lawyer, joins Jeny Maier and Matt Tabas to introduce us to the challenge of healthcare...

How is the European Commission rethinking its approach to competition policy and enforcement as new leadership takes the helm, including the appointment of Spain's Teresa Ribera as the European Commissioner for Competition? Alicia Downey and Subrata Bhattacharjee talk to John Davies, Senior Advisor at the Brunswick Group, about the changing landscape of EU competition policy and its implications f...

The independent Mexican competition law regulator, COFECE, has been abolished and absorbed into the Ministry of Economics. What does this mean for merger control and competition law enforcement in Mexico? Lucia Ojeda Cárdenas, lawyer at SAI Law & Economics in Mexico City, joins Matthew Hall and Subrata Bhattacharjee to discuss this dramatic reform to the Constitution of Mexico. Listen to this epis...