United Kingdom: Department for Business and Trade opened consultation on refining competition regime

On 20 January 2026, the Department for Business and Trade opened a consultation as part of an inquiry, titled Refining our competition regime, until 31 March 2026. The aim of the inquiry is to consider potential legislative changes to change the organisational structure and working processes of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). One of the proposed measures would grant the CMA stronger investigative powers in relation to algorithms, noting that the use of algorithms can facilitate collusion and consumer protection violations, such as price variation based on data related to protected characteristics. Under the proposed extended powers, the CMA be able to require investigated persons to generate or obtain information on algorithms, including producing simulated data, to vary how digital services and content are presented to users, and to conduct specified demonstrations and tests.