UK Regulator Seeks Tailored Rules For Big Tech

Britain’s highly anticipated report outlining new rules to govern Big Tech will call for establishing specific rules for certain sectors of the digital economy and major players within them, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

The proposed regulations from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are expected within the next few weeks and are almost certain to guide the actions of a newly announced government digital watchdog, FT reported.

FT quoted unidentified sources as having said some of the rules will be tailor-made to apply only to companies designated as having “strategic market status” or as having power in one market that could be wielded in “adjacent markets.”

Meanwhile, the European Union is developing its own rules that would likely govern certain behaviors, FT reported, although the publication did not state what those activities might be.

FT quoted an unnamed government spokesman saying of upcoming new regulations: “We are committed to making the U.K. the best place in the world to start and grow a business, while ensuring consumers get the best deal: a strong competition regime is a key part of that.”

The new regulations also are expected to establish new standards for mergers involving major technology players. FT reported that yet another set of provisions may force companies to share certain types of data with third parties.

In an early-October speech, CMA CEO Andrea Coscelli said regulators eyeing the broader digital economy might base their actions in part on lessons learned in the regulation of FinTech companies.

Coscelli said the U.K.’s approach to regulating FinTech companies could offer insights into the best ways to increase regulation of Big Tech firms.

“[Effective regulation] means not being afraid to try using new tools and approaches,” he said. “Our work on open banking, for example, has demonstrated the potential that opening up access to data can have in driving innovation. Just last week we announced that users of products enabled by open banking topped 2 million — demonstrating clear demand for these services which have been enabled by this intervention.”