GCR Live’s 4^th Annual Brussels 2-day event will be co-chaired by John Davies from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Derek Ridyard from RBB Economics.

The first day of the conference will feature panels on ‘fines’, ‘merger simulation versus UPP’, ‘arbitration and competition law’ and ‘smart phone wars’. There will also be a debate with the motion: “This house believes that arrival of increasingly sophisticated economics is not helping antitrust enforcement”

The second day of the conference will feature panels on ‘banks and financial services providers’, ‘contracts that refer to competitors’, a live symposium session and an in-house panel.

Co-chairs

John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Derek Ridyard, RBB Economics

Keynote Speaker

Jonathan Faull, Director General, Internal Market and Services, European Commission

Speakers

George Addy, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg

Peter Alexiadis, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Sir Christopher Bellamy QC, Linklaters

Simon Bishop, RBB Economics

Margaret Bloom, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Peter Camesasca, Peter Camesasca Advocaat BVBA

Lorenzo Coppi, Compass Lexecon

Kaarli Eichhorn, General Electric

Deborah Feinstein, Arnold & Porter

Amelia Fletcher, Office of Fair Trading

Giulio Federico, Chief economist's team, DG Comp, European Commission

Gaucho Rasmussen, Tesco

Niamh Grogan, Lloyds Banking Group

Stephan Barthelmess, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Jacques-Philippe Gunther, Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Marc Hansen, Latham & Watkins

Ronan Harty, Davis Polk & Wardwell

Maria Jaspers, Head of unit, DG Comp, European Commission

Frédéric Jenny, ESSEC Business School and judge of the Cour de Cassation, France

Nicole Kar, Linklaters

Assimakis Komninos, White & Case

William Kovacic, George Washington University Law School

Nick Levy, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Munesh Mahtani, Google

Adrian Majumdar, RBB Economics

Francesca Mazza, DIS (German Institute of Arbitration)

Andrew McBride, BHP Billiton

Jean Meijer, Bowman Gilfillan

Samantha Mobley, Baker & McKenzie

Alastair Mordaunt, Clifford Chance

Dr Gunnar Niels, Oxera

Jorge Padilla, Compass Lexecon

Paolo Palmigiano, Lloyds Banking Group

Ramsey Shehadeh, NERA

Nigel Rawding, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Luca Radicati di Brozolo, Bonnelli Erede & Pappalardo

Oliver Bretz, Clifford Chance

Emily Smith, HSBC

Trevor Soames, Shearman & Sterling

Christoph Stadler, Hengeler Mueller

Christopher Thomas, Hogan Lovells International

Deirdre Trapp, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Vanessa Turner, Visa Europe

Sven Voelcker, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

Frank Wijckmans, Contrast Law

Matthew Weiniger, Herbert Smith Freehills

Pierre Régibeau, Charles River Associates

Johan Ysewyn, Clifford Chance

GCR Live Brussels – the conference about the bigger picture

13 and 14 November

DAY ONE

8.30am: Registration and Coffee

9.00am: Chairs’ welcome

John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Derek Ridyard, RBB Economics

9.10am: Session one: fines – time for a re-think?

It’s one of the open secrets of practising EU competition law that fines are nigh impossible to predict with accuracy. Stories circulate of lawyers leaving meetings amazed at how high or sometimes low a client’s fine turned out to be. So … why? And what can be done about it? This session will consider whether a) it’s time for a rethink and b) what better approaches to fining might be.

Chair: Gunnar Niels, OXERA

Speakers:

Marc Hansen, Latham & Watkins

Nicole Kar, Linklaters

Jacques-Philippe Gunther, Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Maria Jaspers, Head of unit, DG Comp, European Commission

10.30am: Coffee

11.00am: Session two: Oxford Union-style debate – is economics helping?

Motion: “this house believes that arrival of increasingly sophisticated economics is not helping antitrust enforcement”

Two teams have 24 minutes a piece to argue for and against the motion to a panel of three adjudicators. They will then respond to questions put by the judges, and from the debate’s chair, before the judges give their decision and reasons for it.

Chair: Margaret Bloom, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Debaters:

For

Sir Christopher Bellamy QC, Linklaters

Simon Bishop, RBB Economics

Against

William Kovacic, George Washington University Law School

Amelia Fletcher, Office of Fair Trading

Judges

George Addy, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg

Frederic Jenny, Professor of economics ESSEC Business School and judge at the Cour de Cassation

Jean Meijer, Bowman Gilfillan

12.30pm: Lunch

1.30pm: Session three: merger simulation v UPP – what’s the difference?

The session will consider the relationship between the two approaches to allocating the unilateral pricing effects that are arise from a proposed merger, with speakers debating 1) are they related? How? 2) Which is the most appropriate for screening mergers in phase one? 3) Which provides a more accurate prediction of the price-impact of a merger?

Chair: Jorge Padilla, Compass Lexecon

Speakers:

Deborah Feinstein, Arnold & Porter

Adrian Majumdar, RBB Economics

Alastair Mordaunt, Clifford Chance

2.55pm: Session four: Arbitration and competition law – where are we now?

It is 12 years since the ECJ affirmed the arbitrability of EU competition law in Eco Swiss. So how is reality living up to the expectation of back then? Leading names from the world of international arbitration will discuss the story so far and explain what arbitration can do for the world of competition at this point in time.

In particular they’ll examine:

• The frequency with which competition law arises for arbitrators. Is it arising more as an ancillary issue than the main dispute?
• Procedural issues a competition law point creates
• Selecting the ideal arbitrator – are there individuals who are becoming known for matters with a competition law element?
• How to use experts effectively
• The value of awards – are any problems arising at the enforcement stage?

Chair: Nigel Rawding, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Speakers:

Luca Radicati di Brozolo, Bonnelli Erede & Pappalardo

Assimakis Komninos, White & Case

Francesca Mazza, DIS (German Institute of Arbitration)

Matthew Weiniger, Herbert Smith Freehills

4.25 pm: Coffee

4.45 pm: Session five: should the EU have stepped into the smart phone wars?

EU competition officials don’t have the best record when it comes to playing the role of price regulator. With that in mind, was it wise for the EU to open an investigation of Motorola and thereby step into the middle of the smart phone wars? Speakers will present arguments for and against competition agencies entering this difficult, IP-rich territory.

Chair: Stephan Barthelmess, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Speakers:

Sven Voelcker, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

Peter Camesasca, Peter Camesasca Advocaat BVBA

Peter Alexiadis, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Pierre Régibeau, Charles River Associates

6.10 pm: Chairs' wrap of day

John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Derek Ridyard, RBB Economics

6.30 pm: Cocktail reception hosted by Hogan Lovells International

DAY TWO

9.00am: Chairs' welcome

John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Derek Ridyard, RBB Economics

9.05am: Session one: banks and financial services providers - they may be unloved, but are they really anti-competitive?

A session built around individuals with first-hand knowledge of recent and live competition cases in the financial sector. They will debate, panel-style, the reasons underlying the antitrust agencies' increased interest in financial services cases and the legal, economic and regulatory issues that arise in practice as a result.

Expected to discuss:

• Thomson Reuters article 102 case
• Deutsche Borse/NYSE Euronext
• Concerns voiced about the actions of rating agencies

Chair: Nick Levy, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Keynote Speaker:

Jonathan Faull, Director General, Internal Market and Services, European Commission

Speakers:

Niamh Grogan, LLoyd's Banking Group

Emily Smith, HSBC

Lorenzo Coppi, Compass Lexecon

Johan Ysewyn, Clifford Chance

10.30am: Coffee

10.50am: Session two: contracts that refer to competitors – what is the theory of harm?

The session will discuss how to analyse the impact of contracts that reference competitors- following recent cases enforcement agencies have struggled to fit theory of harm to facts. Should such arrangements be pursued as horizontal cartels, vertical restraints with (possibly) uncertain effects, or none of the above? The session will also discuss MFN clauses in contracts, and information exchange between competitors.

Cases likely to be discussed

• FMCG – Germany
• Trucks – UK
• Tobacco – UK

Chair: John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Speakers:

Amelia Fletcher, Office of Fair Trading

Christoph Stadler, Hengeller Mueller

Frank Wijckmans, Contrast Law

Ramsey Shehadeh, NERA

Gaucho Rasmussen, Tesco

12.25pm: Lunch

1.45pm: Session three: GCR Live symposium session* – aka, a huge question and answer session with advance preparation

The conference will break into a free-for-all symposium session, in the style that’s used with great success in a few other fields of specialist law.

How this session works: The idea of the symposium is to set up a rolling discussion based around pre-submitted questions.

GCR will collect topics and questions in advance from audience members than then circulate them to all concerned a few days before the event

On the day, the chairs will select a topic from the bundle and then invite whoever submitted it to introduce it from the floor. Other members of the audience, and a panel on stage, will then debate the topic until it has run its course, when a new topic will be teed-up the same way.

Questions can be submitted on any area of antitrust law, economics or practice. The session will run for an hour and a half

*this part of the programme will be Chatham House rule

Oliver Bretz, Clifford Chance

John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Derek Ridyard, RBB Economics

Ronan Harty, Davis Polk & Wardwell

Samantha Mobley, Baker & McKenzie

Deborah Feinstein, Arnold & Porter

Trevor Soames, Shearman & Sterling

Christopher Thomas, Hogan Lovells International

Jean Meijer, Bowman Gilfillan

3.15pm: Coffee

3.45pm: Session four: what frustrates in-house counsel about antitrust enforcement and advice?”

A panel of in-house counsel will prepare individual lists of “the five things that cause me the greatest aggravation when it comes to antitrust law.”

Topics expected to come up include:

• Privacy and privilege – including status of privilege for lawyers from third-party jurisdictions who’ve advised on patent strength
• Successor-parental liability
• Extra-territorial discovery

Chair: Vanessa Turner, Visa Europe

Speakers:

Andrew McBride, BHP Billiton

Kaarli Eichhorn, General Electric

Paolo Palmigiano, Lloyds Banking Group

Munesh Mahtani, Google

5.10pm: Chairs' wrap and predictions based on day two

John Davies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Derek Ridyard, RBB Economics

5.30: Conference Closes

Sponsors and media partners

For sponsorship enquiries, please email GCRLive@GlobalCompetitionReview.com

Cocktail reception sponsor: