Law Firms
Baker Forms New Practice Group, Cites International Antitrust Concerns
Posted Jan 24, 2008, 07:29 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Baker & McKenzie has formed an antitrust practice group in its Tokyo office in advance of a likely broadening of Japanese antitrust rules.
The firm's Tokyo managing partner, Jeremy Pitts, said the new group was created in response to the likely rule changes and the need to apply antitrust rules across international jurisdictions, the National Law Journal reports.
Japan is asking its Fair Trade Commission to broaden its use of antitrust law against foreign companies, Bloomberg reports. The move comes after the European Union fined several Japanese companies as part of increased enforcement actions against price cartels.
“In today’s global economy, clients involved in multinational investment and divestment activities need to adopt an antitrust strategy that takes account of antitrust rules across a range of jurisdictions,” Pitts aid in a press release.