Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Jun 26, 2015)

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:

ANTITRUST NEWS: The Canada Competition Bureau has filed 44 criminal charges against three companies and four individuals accused of rigging bids for the supply of water services to municipalities in the province of Quebec between February 2005 and October 2011, the Bureau announced on June 23. Aquarehab Inc. and its president Claudio Grilli, 9083-0126 Québec Inc., its president Mario Richard and its vice-president Sylvain Lortie, and Gestion Muni-Max Inc. and its president Alain Chabot were charged with bid-rigging under section 47 of the Competition Act. Laval-based Les Entreprises Paysagistes Gaspard Inc. pleaded guilty to nine counts of bid-rigging and was fined $117,000 for its role in the alleged bid-rigging conspiracy.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission (EC) has approved under the European Union (EU) merger regulation the acquisition of Nordic Cinema Group Holding AB of Sweden by Bridgepoint Advisers Group Limited of the United Kingdom, the EC announced today. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. Nordic Cinema Group is a cinema operator active in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. Bridgepoint is a private equity group. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns, because Bridgepoint is not active in the same markets as Nordic Cinema Group or in any related markets.

ANTITRUST NEWS: The Canada Competition Bureau welcomed a recent decision by the Federal Court of Appeal related to the Bureau’s ongoing investigation of alleged anti-competitive practices in the Canadian e-books market. In a statement issued on June 23, John Pecman, Commissioner of Competition, said, "The Bureau welcomes the decision by the Federal Court of Appeal of June 18, 2015. The ruling upholds a September 2014 decision by the Competition Tribunal that provided clarity as to what factors the Tribunal will consider when reviewing third party applications to rescind or vary consent agreements. This, in turn, provides increased certainty to the consent agreement process.”

RICO NEWS: A small business owner has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City that affirmed the district court’s summary dismissal of his RICO claims against a business, collection agency, accountant, and private school. The petitioner presented that questions that court erred in failing to recognize the special duty exception with respect to his individual standing and did not consider evidence referenced in the complaint. The petition for certiorari was filed on June 21, 2015 (Lacertosa v. Blackman Plumbing Supply Co., Inc., Dkt. 14-1509).

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust RICO