A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law (also known as antitrust law). In general it is a government agency, typically a statutory authority, sometimes called an

economic regulator A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous dominion over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulatin ...

, that regulates and enforces competition laws and may sometimes also enforce consumer protection laws. In addition to such agencies, there is often another body responsible for formulating

competition policy Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

. Many nations implement competition laws, and there is general agreement on acceptable standards of behaviour. The degree to which countries enforce their competition policy varies substantially. Competition regulators may also regulate certain aspects of

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

and

business alliance A business alliance is an agreement between businesses, usually motivated by cost reduction and improved service for the customer. Alliances are often bounded by a single agreement with equitable risk and opportunity share for all parties involved ...

s and regulate or prohibit

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

s and

monopolies A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

. Other government agencies may have responsibilities in relation to aspects of competition law that affect

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

(e.g., the registrar of companies). Regulators may form supranational or international alliances like the ECN ( European Competition Network), the ICN ( International Competition Network), and the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

( Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

List of trade blocs and multinational regulators

List of national regulators

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=http://www.ftc.gov/oia/authorities.shtm, title=Competition & Consumer Protection Authorities Worldwide, author=Federal Trade Commission, date=July 24, 2013, author-link=Federal Trade Commission Competition (economics) Anti-competitive practices Imperfect competition Monopoly (economics)

List of trade blocs and multinational regulators

List of national regulators

See also

References

External links