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New edition of Vertical Agreements in EU Competition Law
We’ve just unboxed the 4th edition of our book on vertical agreements, and we’re kind of proud. Pictured are Herlinde Burez (co-author of the chapter on motor vehicle distribution), Evi Noël (project coordinator with an unparalleled attention to detail) and Filip Tuytschaever (on the book cover).
Thanks to our co-author Frank Wijckmans, to Oxford University Press for making it happen, and to our readers for encouraging us!
𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? You can order your copy here.
#verticalagreements #competitionlaw #EUlaw #contrastpublications
The Legal 500 again ranks all our practice areas and gives us the Client Satisfaction Award
Special congratulations to our Competition & EU team for its 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 in 'Competition Belgium'. 👏
We are also proud to receive, as one of the few law firms in Belgium, the Legal 500 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝.
We love what we do, and we are happy that it shows!
A heartfelt thank you to our clients and peers for their trust and warm recommendations.
Do check our websitefor more on our ranking.
#contrasttalent #legal500 #thelegal500 #lawfirm #clientsatisfaction
General Court largely rejects banks' appeal against Commission's cartel decision
On 26 March 2025, the General Court confirmed the Commission’s finding of a cartel by several banks relating to the trade in bonds issued by eurozone countries. The cartel occurred at the time of the financial crisis and subsequent euro-zone debt crisis (between 2007 and 2011) and affected both the issuance of such bonds by countries (primary market) and the subsequent trade of these bonds on the financial markets (secondary market).
The cartel involved various traders which used chat rooms to regularly exchange information, fix prices and allocate customers. After a detailed analysis of the various chatroom-entries relied on by the Commission, the General Court sided with the Commission’s conclusion that the banks were guilty of a cartel consisting of price fixing on both the primary and the secondary market, bid rigging on the primary market, and exchanges of commercially sensitive information regarding the secondary market.
Unsurprisingly, the General Court confirmed explicitly in this respect that the banks were responsible for the conduct of their employees. According to the General Court, an undertaking “cannot reasonably rely on any malfunctioning of its internal organisation” and cannot escape liability even if the cartel-conduct concerned “the act of a single employee who pursued a personal course of conduct initiated before he was recruited and that that course of conduct was only marginally successful.”
This case reconfirms the importance of having a proper compliance culture in place as each employee can trigger a company’s liability. Please refer to our recent In The Picture on the topic in this respect: https://lnkd.in/enD2m9mm
Any questions? Please do not hesitate to get in contact.
#ECJ #GeneralCourt #eurozone #debtcrisis #cartel #compliance #competitioncompliance
In The Picture - More clarity on green claims for European consumers
𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 ... 💭
Your business is known for its eco-friendly products. The launch of your latest line of home appliances is imminent. Through packaging and advertising, you want to highlight that the products are sustainable, made from recycled materials and recyclable.
However, your marketing manager sends you an email expressing concern about the impact of new regulations on greenwashing on the launch. According to him, you have to take a completely new approach to the launch. You would like to know more. You call your manager and legal counsel together for a meeting.
𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞? Read our latest #inthepicture ‘More clarity on green claims for European consumers' here, or contact our commercial counsel Laurence Vanhyfte or commercial associate Emiel Weyers.
#Sustainability #GreenDeal #GreenClaims #Greenwashing #EuropeanCommission #VCDO #contrastpublications
contrast attends 7th edition of Women @ Competition
Last week, our colleague Camille Verstraete attended the 7th edition of the Women AT conference on agile competition. Bringing together leading competition law practitioners, enforcers and academics, the conference presented a great opportunity to exchange insightful perspectives on the role of competition policy and enforcement in times when the only constant is change.
We are proud to support initiatives that foster thought leadership and diversity in our field. Congratulations to the organisers for yet another successful edition!
#competitionlaw #antitrust #lawconference #womeninlaw
Chambers & Partners Europe 2025 ranking
Chambers and Partners Europe again ranks all practice areas of 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭, with a top ranking in band 1 for Competition Belgium for the 13th consecutive year and this as only law firm.✨
Congratulations to Filip Tuytschaever (competition) and Bart Bellen (corporate) for being ranked for the 13th time, a shout out to Herlinde Burez, as being one of only 5 female partners to be included in the competition ranking and this for the 6th time, and proud of Sebastien Engelen for being recognised up and coming talent for his Belgian competition work.
We are most grateful to all our clients and to our referees for their warm recommendations.🙌 It is fantastic that the hard work and expertise of our teams are being recognised in this way.
Read the quotes from Chambers on our website.
#ChambersEurope #contrasttalent #contrastlaw
M&A Chronicle - Weekly case highlight #4
🏛 𝐌&𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 – 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 #𝟒
“Only the clauses relating to the obligations of the seller resulting from the sale shall be interpreted against the latter."
In its judgement of 6 September 2018, the 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 confirmed the relationship between articles 1602 and 1162 old Civil Code in interpretation discussions, specifically in the context of the representations and warranties. Indeed, these cannot be interpreted against the seller.
👉 Want to learn more about this judgement and other key Belgian M&A cases from 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬? You can find them all here, together with our related annotations: https://lnkd.in/eAPqN3_i
📊By the way, did you know that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌&𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 (https://lnkd.in/efJUPcN7) shows that nearly all of the examined acquisition agreements contained contractual representations and warranties? We will be organizing a 𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌&𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 this year. Leave your contact details on this form below to participate and help us find out whether this trend has continued: https://lnkd.in/eQU-ksZF
Follow along with our corporate and M&A team as we highlight more interesting case law in the coming weeks!
𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Please contact the authors (Bart Bellen | Ine Schockaert | Kristof De Wael | Karlien De Ryck | Maarten Cnudde | Charlotte Van Weehaeghe | Ward De Byser | Marthe Wouters).
#MergersandAcquisitions #Kroniek #Chronicle #Survey #mandasurvey #sharepurchaseagreements #CaseLaw #Interpretation #representations #warranties
2-day workshop on CSRD reporting (part 2)
Last Friday was the second session of our two-day crash course on CSRD reporting organised by Voka - Kamer van Koophandel Vlaams-Brabant in collaboration with Charlotte Vandierendonck of Studio D.
Karlien De Ryck and Bart Bellen gave an update of the European Commission’s Omnibus proposal following the discussions of last week in the European Parliament and Council. Based on the last discussions, the European Commission’s proposal to significantly reduce the scope of the CSRD package created controversy and may not be approved as such in the short term. However, the Commission’s proposal to postpone the implementation of CSRD seems likely to qualify for an accelerated approval procedure. In addition to the status of the Omnibus proposal, we also discussed related topics including the latest developments regarding “greenwashing” and the proposed EU “green claims” directive.
During workshop we also reviewed in detail the specific requirements under each reporting standard (ESRS) and compared each ESRS with the corresponding voluntary reporting standard for SMEs (VSME).
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞:
• Regardless of any amendments to the regulatory framework, sustainability remains top-of-mind for companies previously in scope.
• A continued commitment to sustainability is necessary to respond to demands of other companies in the supply chain and is expected to give compliant companies a competitive advantage.
• Companies would however appreciate being given more time to prepare.
• A deep-dive into the ESRS showed that a simplification and alignment with existing regulations would reduce “red tape” and increase efficiency.
• Voluntary reporting standards are expected to become more important.
Thank you Voka - Kamer van Koophandel Vlaams-Brabant for the organisation and Studio D for the pleasant collaboration, and to all participants for the lively interaction.
#CSRD #CSDDD #ESG #Sustainability #CorporateReporting #contrastlaw #Voka #Workshop
M&A Chronicle - weekly case highlight #3
“A sale and purchase agreement can only be validly concluded if there is a consensus with respect to all essential and substantial elements.”
In its judgement of 4 March 2020, the 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐩 ruled that the conclusion of a binding letter of intent (LOI) did not constitute a binding sale and purchase. The Court observed that, as an essential element of the sale, the price was not determined or determinable based on the LOI (as the price was agreed “subject to due diligence”), and the parties had not referred to other substantial elements (e.g. representations and warranties of the seller).
👉 Want to learn more about this judgement and other key Belgian M&A cases from 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬? You can find them all here, together with our related annotations.
📊By the way, did you know that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌&𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 shows that an LOI or similar precontractual document was signed in 77% of the examined transactions? We will be organizing a 𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌&𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 this year. Leave your contact details on this form to participate and help us find out whether this trend has continued.
Follow along with our corporate and M&A team as we highlight more interesting case law in the coming weeks!
𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Please contact the authors - Bart Bellen | Ine Schockaert | Kristof De Wael | Karlien De Ryck | Maarten Cnudde | Charlotte Van Weehaeghe | Ward De Byser | Marthe Wouters
#MergersandAcquisitions #Kroniek #Chronicle #Survey #mandasurvey #sharepurchaseagreements #CaseLaw #LOI #PurchasePrice
Welcome to our new contraster, Winny!
As Facility and Office Assistant, she will manage our building and facilities, support our team in their day-to-day work and welcome our clients at the front desk with Ilse Van der Aa.
Good luck, Winny!
Also interested in joining our team? Discover our career opportunities here.
#lawfirm #jobs #careers #contrastcareers
