Building Effective Stakeholder Relationships in a new Competition Regime

1
Building Effective Stakeholder Relationships in a
new Competition Regime

• Bill Brown, Executive Director, Jersey
  Competition Regulatory Authority
• Asian Competition Forum, Second Asian Competition
  Policy and Law Conference, 11 December 2006

2
The Jersey economy some similarities with Hong
Kong

• (According to CPRC Report)
• Domestic market relatively small
• Some sectors highly concentrated
• Some sectors have high barriers to entry
• High proportion of local businesses are SMEs

3
Competition Law in Jersey

• Passed February 2005
• MA rules effective from 1 May 2005
• rules on anti-competitive arrangements, abuse of
  dominance effective from 1 November 2005
• JCRA is a sectoral regulator (currently telecoms,
  post) and comp.authority

4
Competition Law in Jersey some features

• Authority investigates and decides, subject to
  appeal to Royal Court
• Consistency with EU competition law (benchmark)
• No small business exemption, public policy
  exemption, block exemption (yet)
• Authority advises government on competition
  issues

5
Some ingredients for a successful Competition
Regime

• Substantively and procedurally sound
• Competition law is only one part of competition
  policy other barriers need to be addressed
• Effective stakeholder relationships important

6
Consumers and the Authority

• Manage expectations (education)
• Address other barriers to competition
• Measure performance (improved quality and choice,
  lower prices)
• Authority produces value for money
• Encourage supply of relevant information

7
Businesses and the Authority

• Authority needs to foster compliance culture.
  How?
• Predictability in legal interpretation and
  processes (transparency) guidance
• Openness, accessibility (two-way process)
• Choose enforcement targets carefully
• Efficiency- quick turnaround
• Independence, confidentiality

8
Government and the Authority

• Measure performance (improved quality and choice,
  lower prices)
• Authority produces value for money
• Effective advice on other competition issues

9
The Media and the Authority

• Use of media enhances transparency
• Demonstrates performance, value for money
• Can encourage compliance
• Important to educate media on competition issues