On the 10th of April we celebrated 11 years of Matthews Law whilst attending the American Bar Association Antitrust Spring Meeting in Washington DC. To mark the occasion, we’ve come up with a brand-new newsletter that shares our new team, recaps key competition and consumer law developments, and celebrates our highlights and recognition.
As the year draws to a close, we share some highlights and changes that you might have missed as well as some of our insights on what 2024 will have in store for competition law in New Zealand.
In New Zealand’s first-ever criminal prosecution for cartel conduct, the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) has filed criminal charges against two construction companies and two directors for alleged bid rigging of publicly funded construction contracts. Andy Matthews comments: The first New Zealand criminal cartel prosecution is a big deal. These proceedings will help clarify the …
Matthews Law welcomes John Sibanda and Shaun MacLean Stones to the team. They are joining as Law Clerks and will assist the senior lawyers on competition and consumer law matters.
The recently announced proposed merger of Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island has gained much press. Some argue it will change little, given that the cooperatives work closely, have common branding, and have chosen (or agreed) to operate in separate geographic markets. The proposal has been promoted as leading to greater consolidation of efficiencies.
Andy Matthews had the pleasure of speaking at the Legalwise IP Licensing Fundamentals webinar on 9 November 2023, presenting on Competition Law Reforms in New Zealand & Australia: Changes, Issues & Options for IP lawyers. A copy of the slides and paper accompanying Andy’s session can be found here:
Andy Matthews was delighted to attend the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council (NZFGC) 2023 annual conference in Sydney over 1-3 November 2023. For those who haven’t seen our 2 page summary of the grocery supply code before, we’ve updated this below:
Andy Matthews really enjoyed being part of the 2023 36th IPSANZ annual conference as a speaker on The interplay between patent law and competition law with Cynthia Cochrane SC (Level 22 Chambers, Sydney), Kon Stellios (Special Counsel, Specialist Advice and Services Division, ACCC, Sydney), Linda Govenlock (Partner, Allens, Sydney), and with Natalie Shoolman (Principal, Wrays, Sydney) …
On 1 September 2023 the New Zealand Government announced that the Grocery Supply Code (Code) will commence on 28 September 2023. We’ve created a summary of supplier rights and retailer obligations in the Code, which you can download.
On 5 April 2023 the Commerce Amendment Act 2022 comes into full force. Significantly this means: New Zealand’s misuse of market power provision now uses an “effects test”. Persons with substantial market power (SMP) are prohibited from engaging in conduct that has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition in the market …