Part 3: the Competition and Markets Authority and Part 4: Competition Reform
136.The purpose of Part 3 of the Act is to set up the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) and to transfer to it the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) and the Competition Commission (“CC”), which will be abolished. The CMA will be the main competition regulator in the UK creating a single centre of expertise in public competition enforcement, guidance, advocacy and leadership for the UK and improving utilisation of scarce public resources by eliminating duplication and overlap in the regime. The CMA will seek to promote competition, both within and outside the United Kingdom, for the benefit of consumers.
137.The main purpose of Part 4 of the Act is to reform the competition functions that the CMA will assume to improve the speed, quality and robustness of its decision making.