On October 12, 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published new guidance setting out how UK competition/antirust law will apply to competing businesses which seek to collaborate on environmental sustainability goals (see here). The CMA hopes that the greater certainty provided by the Guidance will encourage industry cooperation in sectors where joint action on addressing the environmental harm will result in wider overall benefits. An overview of the Guidance is available here.
The Guidance has been welcomed by other UK regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which has concurrent competition powers in the UK financial sector. Like the CMA, the FCA has prioritised its environmental sustainability strategy, through which it supports the financial sector in driving positive change.
The FCA indicated that it is willing to work with stakeholders in relation to specific initiatives that may raise novel and significant concerns. This is likely to provide greater scope for engagement with the FCA in the early stages of a proposed collaboration between competitors (or potential competitors). In addition, provided the parties involved implement the advice provided by the FCA, such engagement is likely to be taken into account in any decision the FCA takes to initiate enforcement action in a given case.
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