120 NEWSLETTER 2021 Between Suppliers, Retailer Serving as a Hub Hub and spoke arrangements can also occur in case the suppliers exchange information by means of a retailer serving as a hub and operating in the downstream market. This usually occurs when there are only a small number of players in the upstream market or downstream market, as the existence of only a few players increases the coordination between the undertakings during the information exchange process. Between Retailers, Third Party Serving as a Hub Under this scenario, the hub is a third party, completely independent from the market in which competitor undertakings operate. In other words, the hub is not an actor operating in the upstream or the downstream market of the competitor undertakings. For example, the hub may be an independent auditing company or an association. In this respect, despite the fact that the third-party hub does not have any activity in the relevant market, it may still be sanctioned due to its assistance in the indirect exchange of information. Main Criteria of Hub and Spoke Arrangements Unlike other competition law violations, hub and spoke arrangements occur at the intersection of horizontal and vertical competition law violations.6 In this respect, hub and spoke has a more complex structure than other competition law violations and requires in-depth analysis. In order to set forth a framework for enforcement agencies, it is important to define the criteria to be fulfilled while deciding on the existence of a violation. In the United Kingdom, criteria have been established through landmark decisions7 and they have been adopted 6 Klein, Benjamin: Antitrust Analysis of Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracies (2017), p. 3, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2909341 (Access Date: 17.11.2021). 7 Competition Appeal Tribunal’s Argos Limited and Littlewoods Limited v. Office of Fair Trading, 2004 CAT 24 decision numbered 1014 and 1015/1/1/03, https:// www.catribunal.org.uk/sites/default/files/Jdg1014Argos141204.pdf(Access Date: 17.11.2021) and OFT’s Price-fixing of Replica Football Kit decision dated 01.08.2003and numbered CA98/06/2003, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/555de4c5e5274a74ca00014b/replicakits.pdf (Access Date: 18.11.2021).
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