Canada's Deputy Competition Commissioner of mergers has responded to concerns over the January 11 Merger Review Process Guidelines, saying the new rules are a reflection of current practice.
In the past month there has been some expectation that the country's Competition Bureau would now issue more supplementary information requests (SIRs) to consolidating companies. This was sparked by the 2009 guidelines statement that it was “unlikely that the SIR mechanism will be employed on a frequent basis” being omitted from the January release.
But the new guidelines are better understood as a reflection of policy changes which have already been enacted, competition attorneys and officials have said.
“When amendments come in, you want to have some guidance out there for the public,” Paul Collins, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Mergers at the Canadian Competition Bureau told IFLR.
“Inevitably as you’re implementing them, your practice evolves. It is simply...