Bureau issues draft revised Mergers Fee and Service Standards Handbook
On May 31, 2010, the Competition Bureau released for consultation a draft revised Fee and Service Standards Handbook for Merger-Related Matters. The Bureau proposes changes to timelines as well as some adjustments to the assessment of transaction complexity. Service standards are wholly distinct from statutory waiting period under the merger filing provisions of the Competition Act. They set out, depending on substantive complexity, non-binding maximum time periods within which the Bureau will endeavour to complete a merger review.
Merger reviews are designated as being either “non-complex”, “complex”, or “very complex”. The draft Handbook proposes:
- the “non-complex” service standard period will remain at 14 days (practically speaking, there is probably not much room for a shorter period)
- the “complex” service standard period will be reduced from 70 days to 60 days (this reflects the Bureau’s record of generally completing complex reviews in substantially less than 70 days)
- the “very-complex” service standard period will also be reduced from 5 months to 120 days (reflecting the bureau’s overall success in completing reviews in less than 5 months but still a courageous move given the challenges that may be associated with such reviews)
- the introduction of a new service standard period to apply where the Bureau issues a formal Supplementary Information Request (“SIR”) – the new period will be 30 days following the completion of the parties’ response to the SIR (a reasonably tight time line for the Bureau to impose on itself).
The Bureau will accept comments on the draft until July 31, 2010.
