03
Jul
Regulatory round table – Navigating the new UK environment
The UK government has consulted on a new ‘strategic steer’ to the Competition and Markets Authority, pushing for greater emphasis on economic growth and the agency’s own review on merger remedies aligns with this new direction. Is Westminster wanting to let other jurisdictions play the ‘bad cop’? Will it now be rarer to see the CMA weighing in on US-centric deals? Is this just a minor change in mood music, or a serious rewiring?
- What concrete changes are being applied to merger control at the CMA?
- Will the CMA still take a strong stance on AI partnerships, such as Microsoft’s deals with Inflection and OpenAI as well as Amazon/Anthropic?
- Which other sectors are facing regulatory scrutiny in the UK?
- Does the government risk overstepping the mark with its ‘strategic steer’?
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SpeakersNatalie McNelis Bureau Chief Mergermarket/PaRR
Paul Hutchinson Partner RBB Economics
Karlis Kirsis Chief Legal Officer GXO
Sorcha O'Carroll Senior Director of Mergers CMA
Stephanie Adams Partner Latham & Watkins
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Natalie McNelis leads Mergermarket/PaRR’s EU and UK regulatory coverage since 2025. She previously worked for MLex. Before becoming a journalist in 2017, she spent 20+ years as an international trade and competition lawyer in law firms including Stibbe and WilmerHale. Natalie has a BA in English from Mount Holyoke College, a JD from Harvard Law School and an LLM in EU law from KU Leuven. She is admitted to the bar in New York.
Paul Hutchinson joined RBB Economics in 2010 and is a Partner in our London office. Paul has over 15 years’ experience as a competition economist and has worked on competition matters including mergers, anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance cases and market investigations. Prior to joining RBB Paul worked for the OFT where he led the economic analysis of numerous high-profile merger cases raising horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate issues.
Paul’s experience spans a wide range of sectors, including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, software services transport, retailing, consumer electronics, and fast-moving consumer goods. Paul is featured in Who’s Who Legal, as a leading expert in the field of competition economics. Paul’s experience spans a wide range of sectors, including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, transport, retailing, consumer electronics, and fast-moving consumer goods. Clients he has worked for include Qualcomm, WTW, AkzoNobel, Heineken, Pfizer, Global Radio, Warner Music, iRobot and Taylor Wimpey.
Paul has significant experience advising clients in relation to mergers. Prior to joining RBB, Paul worked for the UK merger regulator (the OFT, now CMA) and since joining RBB has advised on a broad range of UK mergers in industries ranging from retail/local markets to satellite telecommunication services.
Paul has also acted for clients in relation to a wide range of mergers before the European Commission in industries ranging from insurance to pharmaceuticals.
In addition to mergers, Paul has extensive experience acting on litigation matters and market studies with a UK focus. Notable clients include Pfizer, Warner Music, Taylor Wimpey and the UK government.
Karlis Kirsis is Chief Legal Officer. In this role, he leads GXO’s legal and compliance functions, including corporate governance, litigation and commercial matters.
Previously, he served as European Chief Legal Officer for XPO Logistics, where he held earlier positions as Senior Vice president, Corporate Counsel, and Vice President, Corporate and Securities Counsel. Mr. Kirsis spent nearly 10 years as a Senior Corporate Associate in New York and London for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he executed global M&A and corporate finance transactions. He holds a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College.
Stephanie Adams advises corporates and private equity funds on all aspects of UK, European, and international competition matters, and on obtaining foreign investment approvals. Stephanie draws on her depth of experience navigating multijurisdictional transactions and complex antitrust matters to guide clients on a wide range of issues including UK, European, and global merger control, foreign investment screening, including the UK National Security and Investment Act, antitrust, and subsidy control. In addition to her European expertise, she unlocks the resources of Latham’s global platform to coordinate complex matters across borders. Before joining Latham, Stephanie worked in the Brussels office of another leading international law firm.