2024 saw a continued trend of heightened dawn raid activity by antitrust authorities across the globe. Of the 31 jurisdictions surveyed, 24 (77%) confirmed that the regulator had carried out dawn raids during the course of 2024, conducting in total more than 70 raids.
Within Europe, the European Commission (EC) carried out unannounced antitrust inspections in several member states at the premises of companies active in various sectors, including new replacement tires, financial derivatives, and data center construction. The inspections were conducted in conjunction with relevant national antitrust authorities. In the U.K., the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into suspected bid-rigging in relation to a government fund for improving the condition of school buildings, carrying out unannounced inspections at several business premises in December 2024. In October 2024, the EU and the U.K. government announced the conclusion of technical negotiations for a future competition cooperation agreement that is expected to allow the EC, EU member state antitrust authorities, and the CMA to cooperate directly in antitrust investigations.
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