Tangled

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Information Commissioner (IC) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), thereby establishing a framework for cooperation in relation to their overlapping powers and facilitating the sharing of intelligence.

The CMA is a non-ministerial department, established by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. Its role is to promote competition within and outside the UK for the benefit of consumers and to make markets work well for consumers, businesses and the economy generally. The IC is a corporation sole appointed by HM the Queen under the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998 to act as the UK's independent regulator promoting access to official information and protecting personal information.

Both bodies have significant consumer protection powers. The MoU provides that they will discuss and communicate regularly to discuss matters of mutual interest, consult one another on issues which have cross organisation interest, share draft documents (such as consultation papers and briefings) and share relevant information.

The sharing of information provisions are the most interesting. They envisage the bodies sharing...