DMCC Bill introduced to Parliament

The Bill has two key strands - the first looks at competition within digital markets, and the second covers consumer rights and reforms of consumer law enforcement.

The key takeaway from an online advertising perspective is that the Bill creates new powers for the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which sits within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to ‘designate’ businesses that hold strategic market status (SMS) in relation to digital activities linked to the UK. Under the Bill, any business with SMS will be subject to specific conduct requirements, determined on a firm-by-firm basis, that relate to the digital activity. For example, companies with SMS will be required to report merger transactions to the CMA prior to completion.

In addition, the Bill will give the DMU the power to make pro-competition interventions and impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm’s global turnover for regulatory breaches.

You can find out more about the Bill here. We will keep IAB UK members updated on any developments.