Paul Collins of Stikeman Elliott spent the last two years at the federal Competition Bureau.
He's back. Stikeman Elliott LLP partner Paul Collins has returned to his firm after a two-year stint as head of the federal Competition Bureau's mergers branch.
His fellow competition lawyers on Bay Street have spent much of the past two years complaining about the bureau's new get-tough approach on mergers, which it reviews in case a combination of competitors threatens a monopoly. Some have also criticized his office's move to publish the deals that it reviews each month, warning that this could result in the disclosure of confidential information.
But Mr. Collins, who was forbidden from touching any cases involving Stikemans while at the bureau, says the regulator has put in place a workable system for the use of the new tougher powers it was granted in 2009. And he defends the merger registry as one of the competition bureau's new policies to promote greater transparency.
Many critics from the competition bar focus on the bureau's ability to issue massive requests for information that can cost millions and freeze deals in their tracks for months. But Mr. Collins says their fears about the overuse of this power are unwarranted.
He points to the numbers. As of the beginning of May, the bureau had issued just 18 of these so-called supplementary information requests over three years and more than 600 mergers.
"It's hard for me to look at that number and say … [it]is something we should be taken aback by," Mr. Collins said.
He adds that the bureau is very careful about issuing these requests: "I can tell you firsthand, it's not taken lightly at all."
Canada's merger review regime compares well with those in Europe and the United States, he said. And over the past two years, under bureau head Melanie Aitken – whom he describes as a "very hands-on" commissioner – the regulator has become more effective and streamlined.
Mr. Collins says he was happy to serve as the regulator wrestled with the policy questions of how to use its new powers: "It was an opportune time to be there, to help contribute to the infrastructure that would serve the mergers branch and bureau for years to come, and the building blocks for that."
Send a tip:
bartalk@globeandmail.com