Be careful what you discuss with competitors down the pub, warns CMA

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned agents who attend informal and formal industry gatherings how careful they need to be when chatting with competitors. The hundreds, if not thousands of informal and formal property industry gatherings in pubs, hotels, golf courses and cafes up and down the country every year can lead agents to “fall foul of competition law”, the CMA warns in its latest guidance. It also highlights within the guidance somewhat ominously the combined £750,000 fine it slapped on a local trade association, three estate agents and a newspaper publisher for cartel activity in 2015. Even the most mundane conversation can cross the line and members of trade associations “must be mindful of their conduct in relation to other members of their trade association who are likely to be actual or potential competitors of theirs,” it says. “Trade associations and their members need to be alive to evolving risks of breaking competition law when discussing issues facing their industry. “Topics such as salary benchmarking or perhaps an industry ‘commercial response’ to economic or structural changes in the market may fall into this category.” Other types of conversation agents should be wary of include future pricing, discounts,…