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Articles by Mark McCowan
Merger Reform Update: Critical Amendments To Australia’s Merger Regime Passed By Parliament
On 10 September 2026, both houses of Parliament passed critical amendments to Australia’s new merger regime.
Merger Reform Update: 'Targeted Refinements' Take The Sharpest Edges Off Australia's New Merger Regime
Mark McCowan’s articles from Corrs Chambers Westgarth are most popular: with readers working within the Banking & Credit industries Corrs Chambers Westgarth are most popular: within Antitrust/Competition Law, Technology, Media, Telecoms, IT and Entertainment topic(s) with Senior Company Executives, HR and Finance and Tax Executives in Australia Proposed amendments to Australia's mandatory merger control regime seek to address some of the most problematic features of the new regime, which have...
Australia’s New Merger Control Regime: Early Insights And Implications For Dealmakers
Mark McCowan’s articles from Corrs Chambers Westgarth are most popular: with Inhouse Counsel in Australia with readers working within the Media & Information and Law Firm industries Australia’s new merger control regime reflects a series of conservative design choices that are expanding ACCC oversight of dealmaking and creating new regulatory risks reshaping how deal risk is managed in practice.
Merger reform update: last-minute amendments to Australia's new merger regime both help and hinder transaction parties
CC Corrs Chambers Westgarth More With over 175 years of experience and a team of over 1000 talented professionals, we offer exceptional legal services for major transactions, projects, and disputes. Our client-focused approach and commitment to excellence ensure success for our clients. We connect with top lawyers globally for the best results.
The transitional period for the ACCC merger regime has begun and the notification rules are final. Are you ready?
CC Corrs Chambers Westgarth More With over 175 years of experience and a team of over 1000 talented professionals, we offer exceptional legal services for major transactions, projects, and disputes. Our client-focused approach and commitment to excellence ensure success for our clients. We connect with top lawyers globally for the best results. Voluntary notification under the new regime may be advisable if a transaction will not be completed in 2025. Australia Corporate/Commercial Law
Are Australia's proposed merger control fees too high?
CC Corrs Chambers Westgarth More With over 175 years of experience and a team of over 1000 talented professionals, we offer exceptional legal services for major transactions, projects, and disputes. Our client-focused approach and commitment to excellence ensure success for our clients. We connect with top lawyers globally for the best results. Discusses proposed merger control fees & key implications of these fees. Australia Corporate/Commercial Law
Strategic considerations arising from Australia's new merger control regime
Mark McCowan’s articles from Corrs Chambers Westgarth are most popular: within Corporate/Commercial Law topic(s) in Australia with readers working within the Media & Information and Law Firm industries Corrs Chambers Westgarth are most popular: within Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, International Law and Energy and Natural Resources topic(s) with Finance and Tax Executives and Inhouse Counsel Australia's new merger control regime commenced on a voluntary basis on 1 July 2025 and comes...
Australian merger reform: proposed legislation provides much-needed clarity but regulatory over-capture remains likely
On 10 October 2024, the Australian Treasurer tabled the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024 (Bill) to reform Australia's merger laws by introducing a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime from 1 January 2026 (with a transitional regime available from mid-2025).
Australian merger reform: proposed legislation provides much-needed clarity but regulatory over-capture remains likely
On 10 October 2024, the Australian Treasurer tabled the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024 (Bill) to reform Australia’s merger laws by introducing a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime from 1 January 2026 (with a transitional regime available from mid-2025).
The ongoing merger reform debate: where is it likely to land?
Earlier this year, the Federal Government announced sweeping reforms to Australia's merger rules. The proposed reforms will introduce a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime in Australia. In an apparent attempt to give the business community clarity and confidence about filing requirements and timelines, the proposed law is highly detailed and prescriptive.
A shield and a sword: the increasing importance of investment protection for technology companies
Recent years have seen a trend of increased government scrutiny of the operations of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) companies globally, and a proliferation of regulations in the areas of data protection, cybersecurity, consumer protection and fair competition, among others.
The ongoing merger reform debate: where is it likely to land?
Earlier this year, the Federal Government announced sweeping reforms to Australia’s merger rules. The proposed reforms will introduce a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime in Australia. In an apparent attempt to give the business community clarity and confidence about filing requirements and timelines, the proposed law is highly detailed and prescriptive.
A shield and a sword: the increasing importance of investment protection for technology companies
Recent years have seen a trend of increased government scrutiny of the operations of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) companies globally, and a proliferation of regulations in the areas of data protection, cybersecurity, consumer protection and fair competition, among others.
Australian merger control reform: new thresholds risk uncertainty and over-capture
CC Corrs Chambers Westgarth More With over 175 years of experience and a team of over 1000 talented professionals, we offer exceptional legal services for major transactions, projects, and disputes. Our client-focused approach and commitment to excellence ensure success for our clients. We connect with top lawyers globally for the best results. Treasury released proposed notification thresholds for Australia's mandatory and suspensory merger control regime. Australia Corporate/Commercial Law
Sweeping reforms to Australia's merger control rules announced
The Australian Government has announced sweeping reforms to Australia's merger rules that will commence in January 2026. Australia will replace its voluntary, non-suspensory regime with a mandatory and suspensory system, subject to forthcoming economic and market share thresholds. The new rules are largely consistent with other comparable jurisdictions' regimes.
Cost of living takes centre-stage: ACCC releases its 2024-25 priorities - Antitrust, EU Competition - Australia
As we enter the third year of Gina Cass-Gottlieb's appointment as Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the regulator's Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 2024-25 signal a continuing emphasis on certain key areas from previous years: cost of living vulnerabilities, sustainability and the digital economy. Those factors are said to be the "key challenges" facing Australian communities, and they have shaped the ACCC's priorities accordingly.
Cost of living takes centre-stage: ACCC releases its 2024-25 priorities
As we enter the third year of Gina Cass-Gottlieb's appointment as Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the regulator's Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 2024-25 signal a continuing emphasis on certain key areas from previous years: cost of living vulnerabilities, sustainability and the digital economy. Those factors are said to be the “key challenges” facing Australian communities, and they have shaped the ACCC’s priorities accordingly.
High Court of Australia finds Ruby Princess class action waiver clauses unfair
A unanimous bench of the High Court of Australia in Karpik v Carnival Plc [2023] HCA 39 has found that the class action waiver clauses relied upon in the Ruby Princess class action are unfair terms under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Background The judgment concerns a class action brought against Carnival Plc in connection to an outbreak of COVID-19 on the Ruby Princess cruise ship in March 2020.
High Court of Australia finds Ruby Princess class action waiver clauses unfair
A unanimous bench of the High Court of Australia in Karpik v Carnival Plc [2023] HCA 39 has found that the class action waiver clauses relied upon in the Ruby Princess class action are unfair terms under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Background The judgment concerns a class action brought against Carnival Plc in connection to an outbreak of COVID-19 on the Ruby Princess cruise ship in March 2020.
Small steps and giant leaps: Australia moves closer to implementing far-reaching merger reform
In the year since Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s appointment as Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), there has been much speculation about her position on the merger reform proposals of her predecessor Rod Sims released in August 2021. With her speech to the National Press Club, the Chair has now pinned her colours to the mast and endorsed the ACCC’s long-held view that the Australian merger control regime needs reform.
Steady as she goes: the ACCC releases 2023-24 priorities
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced its Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 2023-24, the first in Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s tenure as ACCC chair. The Chair’s speech (available here) offered few surprises and instead signalled a consistent approach to her predecessor with a number of the 2022-23 enforcement priorities remaining on the ACCC’s agenda.
Fostering relationships with regulators
It is common for businesses to perceive, and treat, regulators as hostile adversaries — and they often are, write Mark McCowan and Ian Reynolds. For many large and complex organisations, however, engagement with regulators like the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is a necessary and increasingly frequent activity. In that environment, to what extent is there merit in fostering an organisation’s relationship with a regulator, and is trust and transparency a relevant currency?
A farewell to Sims: ACCC releases 2022-23 priorities
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released its annual Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 2022-23. The report was announced by Chair Rod Sims on the eve of his retirement as Australia's longest serving head of the ACCC. A full copy of Mr Sims' speech can be found on the ACCC website.
Last port of call: ACCC obtains access-regime style commitments in lieu of penalties in TasPorts case
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Where to now for Australian merger regulations?
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Acquisition of Aurizons Acacia Ridge Terminal (ART) by Pacific National cleared by Full Federal Court
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. In a significant loss for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Full Federal Court has rejected its appeal in relation to Pacific National's proposed acquisition of Aurizon's Acacia Ridge Terminal (ART) in Queensland.
COVID-19 and the Australian Consumer Law: three key compliance challenges for business
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a range of new compliance challenges for business under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). We consider what the current crisis means for business and the enforcement of the ACL by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in relation to three key consumer law issues of pricing, the consumer guarantee regime and unfair contract terms issues.
Getting competition laws out of the way so business can respond most effectively to COVID-19 challenges
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Merger control in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. Earlier this week, we published our predictions as to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australian merger control processes (see below). As expected, on 20 March 2020, the ACCC released some initial guidance.
Judgment calls: ACCC releases 2020 compliance and enforcement priorities
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Are we there yet? The Federal Government sets out its roadmap for reform in response to the Digital Platforms Inquiry - Media
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Smoke but no fire? Competition enforcement after the ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry | Lexology
The Digital Platforms Inquiry (DPI) arose from a Ministerial direction to the ACCC to investigate the state of competition in media and advertising markets. In both the Preliminary and Final Reports, the ACCC concluded that both Google and Facebook have substantial power in various markets – but was essentially silent about potential abuses of that market power.
Germany’s Facebook data ruling: What does it mean for Australia? | Lexology
Germany
February 11 2019 Last week, the German competition regulator, the Bundeskartellamt (BKA), released a decision prohibiting certain types of collection and use of user data by Facebook. The decision was taken under the German rules on abuse of a dominant position (the equivalent to Australia’s misuse of market power prohibitions in s.46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA)).
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