NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Elin Moen, Arne Torsten Andersen, Helge Stemshaug and Beret Sundet, BAHR
1. Legislation and Enforcing Authorities 1.1 Merger Control Legislation Legislation
ed to pre-notification, content of the notification, frequency of meetings and various submissions. 1.2 Legislation Relating to Particular Sectors The Competition Act and therefore the Norwe - gian merger control regime applies to all eco - nomic activity and does not distinguish between different sectors. Some transactions may be subject to review from other Norwegian regulators in addition to merger control review. For example, Norway has implemented a foreign direct investment regime (see 9. Foreign Direct Investment/Subsidies Review ). Furthermore, transactions in certain sectors, such as the energy and financial sec - tors, may require authorisation from sectoral regulators. These powers apply in parallel to the NCA’s powers under the Competition Act. 1.3 Enforcement Authorities The NCA ( Konkurransetilsynet ) enforces the rel - evant legislation in the first instance. The NCA handles merger notifications and performs the necessary investigations. The NCA can prohibit a transaction, grant a conditional clearance or take no action, thus clearing a transaction unconditionally. The ultimate decision-maker in the NCA is the Director General. The NCA’s decisions can be appealed to the Norwegian Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ( Konkurranseklagenemnda ). Both the NCA and the CAT make autonomous decisions and cannot be instructed by the gov - ernment or any other bodies in their handling of individual cases. If a transaction triggers a filing under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) then this relieves the
Merger control in Norway is governed by Chap - ter 4 of the Norwegian Competition Act 5 March 2004, No 12 (the “Competition Act”). The follow - ing regulations related to merger control have been enacted. • Regulation on the Notification of Concentra - tions enacted 11 December 2013, No 1466 (the “Notification Regulation”); • Regulation on the Measuring and Reduction of Infringements Fees, enacted 11 December 2013, No 1465; • Regulation on the use of a trustee in merger cases, enacted 15 September 2008, No 1021; • Regulation on the exception from the stand still obligation, enacted 9 March 2009, No 292; and • Regulation on the process of cases for the Competition Appeal Tribunal, enacted 14 December 2018, No 2031. Guidance The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) has issued the following non-binding guidelines related to merger control: • Guidelines on the submission of ordinary notifications; • Guidelines on the submission of simplified notifications; and • Guidelines on case handling in merger control cases. Please note that, while these guidelines may pro - vide useful general information on the notification and case handling process, the process is always adapted to the specifics of each case – eg, relat -
433 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook