CHRISTINE VARNEY TO PARTICIPATE IN NINTH ANNUAL
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION NETWORK CONFERENCE
IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY
WASHINGTON — Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, will participate in the ninth annual International
Competition Network (ICN) conference in Istanbul, Turkey, from April 27-29, 2010. At the
conference, senior government antitrust officials, private-sector antitrust experts and
representatives of intergovernmental organizations will meet to discuss competition issues.
The ICN conference will focus on the recent accomplishments of its five main working
groups, which address: unilateral conduct, mergers, cartels, competition advocacy and agency
effectiveness. Conference panels will discuss the role of outside parties in merger review, the
analysis of price squeezes, trends in anti-cartel enforcement and the interaction of competition
policy with other policies. Members will also approve working group programs for the coming
year.
In October 2001, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
joined with antitrust agencies from 13 other jurisdictions around the world (Australia, Canada, the
European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, the United
Kingdom and Zambia) to create the ICN. The ICN now includes 112 member agencies from 99
jurisdictions. The goal of the ICN is to provide a forum for antitrust agencies to address
enforcement and policy issues of common interest, and to propose ways that member
governments could more closely align their policies and enforcement.
The following portions of this year's conference will be open to the press:
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 1)
8:30 A.M. (Istanbul), 1:30 A.M. (EDT) – Opening Remarks by Turkish and ICN
Officials
10:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) – 2010 ICN Work Product Session
ICN Working Groups will present their work product from this past ICN year, including
presentations by the Agency Effectiveness Working Group, Advocacy Working Group, Cartel
Working Group, Merger Working Group and Unilateral Conduct Working Group.
11:20 A.M. (Istanbul), 4:20 A.M. (EDT) – Vice Chair Session
This session will be moderated by Philip Collins, Chairman, U.K. Office of Fair Trading;
and Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic, Vice Chair for Outreach, will be a panelist.
2:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 7:00 A.M. (EDT) – Planning for the ICN's Second Decade
John Fingleton, Chair, ICN Steering Group, and CEO of the U.K. Office of Fair Trading
will moderate this session.
3:55 P.M. (Istanbul), 8:55 A.M. (EDT) – Agency Effectiveness Session
This Plenary Session will focus on "Strategic Planning and Prioritization." Panelists
will include FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 2)
9:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 2:00 A.M. (EDT) – Merger Session
Christine
Varney, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Antitrust
Division, will moderate a panel on "The Role and Rights of Third Parties
in Merger Review."
10:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) – Unilateral Conduct Session
Andreas
Mundt, President, Bundeskartellamt, will provide opening remarks to the
plenary session focusing on "Putting the Squeeze on Competitive Pricing? - Competition Policy Toward
Margin Squeezes," which will be moderated by Randolph W. Tritell, Director
of the FTC's Office of International Affairs.
2:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 7:00 A.M. (EDT) – Special Project: The Interface between
Competition Policy and other Public Policies
This plenary session will focus on a special project undertaken by the Turkish Competition
Authority to study the interface between competition policy and other public policies. Panelists
will include Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic.
5:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 10:00 A.M. (EDT) – Advocacy Session
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 3)
9:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 2:00 A.M. (EDT) – Cartel Session
Scott
D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement
of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, will moderate a panel
discussion on "Trends in
Cartel Enforcement and Policy."
12:15 P.M. (Istanbul), 5:15 A.M. (EDT) – Report Back and Future Work
1:15 P.M. (Istanbul), 6:15 A.M. (EDT) – Closing
Complete information about the conference is available at www.icn-istanbul.org/. The
2010 ICN conference will be held at Swissotel The Bosphorus, Bayildim Cad. No. 2 Macka
Besiktas 34357. Phone: +90-212-326-1100; Fax: +90-212-326-1122.
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| MEDIA CONTACTS: |
Federal Trade Commission,
Mitchell J. Katz, 202-326-2161
Department of Justice,
Gina Talamona, 202-514-2007
|
10-453
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