Fines

On the issue of substantive intervention and deal mortality, a debate can be had on to what degree the CMA has become “tougher”. No such hesitation need apply on issues of process. Since 2018, the CMA has in word and deed become tougher on prosecuting violations.

The large majority of infractions appear from the CMA’s decisions to be inadvertent or negligent (albeit without, in the CMA’s view, a reasonable excuse) rather than deliberate or flagrant.

The CMA’s predecessors lacked the requisite legal powers to impose civil penalties, having to rely exclusively on the “nuclear button” of criminal prosecution for false or misleading information.

In the CMA era, the fining league table’s first entry took some time – mid-2018, or over 4 years into the CMA’s existence. Since that time, the CMA’s docket of fining cases has steadily grown, and the quantum of fines with it.