![handle is hein.journals/comptnlj19 and id is 1 raw text is: 1
By your leave - the English High Court gives
guidance on when directors subject to
competition disqualification orders may
obtain limited permission to act
Deba Das,* Daniel Wylde
1. Introduction
In Stamatis and Davies v. Competition and Markets
Authority, Re Fourfront Group Ltd' the English High
Court has for the first time considered aspects of the
directors disqualification regime applied by the Compe-
tition and Markets Authority (CMA). As is evident from
its public pronouncements, and the increasing number
of disqualification undertakings that it has agreed in
the last four years, the CMA regards the power to dis-
qualify directors for competition law infringements as
an important tool in its enforcement of competition
law. The judgment in Stamatis and Davies v. CMA pro-
vides useful guidance on the approach of the English
courts to applications by an individual subject to a com-
petition disqualification undertaking for permission to
act as a director, under section 17 of the Company
Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (the CDDA).
* Partner, Antitrust Litigation team, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP,
London
t Associate, Antitrust, Competition and Trade team, Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer LLP, London.
t Associate, Antitrust Litigation team, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP,
London.
1.1. Overview of director disqualification
regime
The court's power to disqualify directors was introduced
by the CDDA. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy may apply to the court for an
order to disqualify a director for, amongst other things,
persistent breaches of company legislation,2 fraudulent
trading or other fraud committed during the winding
up of a company.3 The CDDA also gave the Secretary
of State the power to accept disqualification undertakings
from directors, in which such a director could undertake
to not act as a director or take part in the management of
a company for a specified period of time.4
The Enterprise Act 2002 extended the disqualification
regime to breaches of UK and EU competition law. From
20 June 2003, the UK competition regulators could apply
to the court for a 'competition disqualification order'
1 Aki John Pandelis Stamatis and Sion Emyr Davies v. Competition and
Markets Authority, Re Fourfront Group Ltd [2019] EWHC 3318 (Ch).
2 CDDA, s 3.
3 CDDA, s 4.
4 CDDA, s LA.
Journal compilation © 2020 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
and Sophie Tang*
10.4337/clj.2020.01.01](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/comptnlj19&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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