Competition Disqualification—The English High Court’s Approach Following Re Property Group (2010) Ltd

Abstract

Re Property Group (2010) Ltd1 (‘Re Property Group’) was the first competition disqualification case to go to trial following an application by the Competition and Markets Authority (`the CMA') pursuant to section 9A of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (‘CDDA’). The disqualification case followed the acceptance by two companies of which the defendant was a director that they had participated with five other estate agents in an agreement and/or concerted practice to fix minimum levels of commission fees for the provision of residential estate agency services.2 The trial was heard remotely in June 2020 and judgment was handed down on 3 July 2020. The judge found that the defendant knew of the infringing agreement and had failed to take any steps to prevent its formation or implementation and as a result disqualified the defendant for 7 years. This article considers the judgment in Re Property Group, subsequent developments in the area of competition disqualification and some of the key issues that remain to be determined.