A new front has opened between Antitrust Authority director general Ronit Kan and Israel Securities Authority chairman Zohar Goshen on the issue of concentration and what to do about it. During a special hearing by the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee on a private member's bill by MK Amnon Cohen (Shas), Kan accused Goshen of backtracking from his position on expansion of the Antitrust Authority's authority.
Cohen's bill is based on a draft government bill that the Antitrust Authority distributed and that was written by a committee that Goshen headed five years ago. The bill proposes to expand the authority of the Antitrust Authority to allow its director to declare concentration groups (markets in which there are few competitors and little competition). The Antitrust Authority director could also order such markets to take measures aimed at increasing competition, for example, by lifting entry barriers to the sector and lifting barriers against switching between competitors.
Economics Committee chairman MK Ophir Akonis (Likud) summoned Goshen to the meeting. Goshen dropped his bombshell, saying, "I stand behind all the conclusions, except on one point where I have changed my mind. At the time, I proposed that consultation with other regulators was sufficient for the Antitrust Authority director to take actual measures in a concentrated market. Now I think that such consultation is not enough. There is need for explicit consent of the regulator where there is another regulator.
"After all, it's unreasonable that the Antitrust Authority director should decide to change the banking system without the consent of the supervisor of banks."
Goshen added that in cases of disagreement between regulators, the prime minister should decide on the issue.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 7, 2010
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