2. The rise of trusts, a term that was used for
Big Business in the US which was formed by
the Business owners by combining their
interests into a single legal entity—the trust
which led to price fixation and cartels.
To counter these trust- Anti Trust laws were
implemented.
The old oldest antitrust law in USA is the
Sherman Act, 1890
3. The Sherman Act,1890 defines and bans specific means
of anti-competitive conduct.
Clayton Act, 1914- to address some of the specific
practices that the Sherman Act did not clearly prohibit or
failed to properly clarify. The Clayton Act deals with
anti-competitive mergers, monopolies, and price
discrimination but adds more detail and scope to
eliminate some of the previous loopholes. Currently,the
Acts are enforced by the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department
of Justice (DOJ)
Federal Trade Commission, Act , 1914- In 1914,the US
Govt. created a new administrative body to look at unfair
business practices i.e FTC. And gave the Federal Trade
Commission the authority to investigate and stop unfair
strategies of competition and deceptive practices. The
vision for the FTC was as a guide to business, pointing
the way toward fair methods of competition.
4. The first statutory intervention came in 1948
– Monopolies and Restrictive Practices
(Inquiry and Control) Act.
Primary aim was control the monopoly and
agreements between firms damaging wider
public interest. It provided limited coercive
machinery.
It established a Monopolies and Restrictive
Practices Commission (MRPC) to investigate
in good industries causing damage to public
interest.
5. The Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 was passed
for a stronger treatment of restrictive practices. It
obligated companies to register agreements of
cooperation with the Registrar of Restrictive Trading
Agreements which was held to be unlawful for being
contrary to public interest.
Resale price agreements were governed by Resale
Prices Act,1964
The Fair Trading Act, 1973 was passed which formed
the Director general of fair trading (DGFT) to monitor
markets and report monopoly problems.
The Competition Act, 1980 introduced the ‘anti-
competitive practice’, monopolies and mergers
commission. The DGFT perceives any anti competitive
effect and refer it to the commission for further
assessment.
6. After the accession of the UK to the European
Union in 1973, the Articles 81 and 82 of the
European commission was also applicable on
UK.
A Competition Act, 1998 was enforced in
2000 to align national competition law with
the EU Laws which entails all the provisions
top control mergers, vertical restrains, cartels
and monopoly.
