Sector inquiries
Sector inquiries examine how competition functions within a sector, without focusing on any specific firm. Thus they are typically broader in scope than other competition investigations and can raise a wide range of issues.
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+ We assist firms in these inquiries by testing the economic validity and empirical foundations of the authority’s findings.
+ Given the potential for market-wide remedies we help firms with proactive engagement by developing proprietary models to test whether markets deliver for consumers.
+ We manage large-scale data extracts for RFIs to ensure accuracy and consistency with the economic narrative.
Sector inquiries are an increasingly important policy tool with significant implications for businesses.
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We have extensive experience in sector inquiries, having supported government authorities on several investigations. This enables us to help private clients engage effectively in these exercises, which can have far-reaching implications for their business.
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The context and our experience
Unlike traditional antitrust investigations, which focus on the conduct of a specific firm, sector inquiries examine whether market features and the overall competitive interaction in the sector are preventing competition from functioning effectively. These features may include barriers to entry, customer behaviour, regulatory constraints or other structural characteristics of a sector. Their findings can lead to regulatory reforms, behavioural remedies and, in some cases, structural interventions.
In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and previously the Competition Commission (CC), have long relied on market inquiries as a key investigative tool. Between 2004 and 2022, they launched 21 in-depth investigations covering sectors from banking and energy to airports, healthcare and groceries.
We have supported UK authorities in several of these investigations, including groceries, private healthcare and retail banking.
In Germany, the 11th amendment to the German Competition Act (GWB) has expanded the Bundeskartellamt's powers to conduct sector inquiries and impose remedies.
Our Deep Dive explores Germany's new regime and lessons from the UK's experience.
RETAIL BANKING
Our role
econda assisted the CMA in its retail banking inquiry covering personal current accounts (PCA) and SME banking.
We supported several workstreams. Among others, we directed the CMA’s analysis on actual and perceived behaviour of PCA customers based on large-scale survey evidence, which was reproduced in Appendix 6.4 of the final report.
The results
The CMA found low customer engagement, weak competitive pressure on incumbents, challenger banks struggling to scale, substantial information asymmetries and varying service quality. Remedies included Open Banking and other measures to improve transparency and ease of switching.