La tutela della concorrenza nei mercati regolati: le decisioni dell'Agcm in materia di servizi di interesse economico generale e di intermediazione monetaria e finanziaria e di professioni regolamentate (anno 2014)

Regarding the decisions in transport sector in 2014, the Agcm qualified as abuse of dominant position the conduct of several companies belonging to the “Italian Railways” group against “New Passenger Transport” (A443). Moreover, in 2014 the Antitrust closed only one preliminary investigation concerning mergers in passenger and freight maritime transport field (C11938). In the bank and insurance sector, the Agcm concluded a proceeding on the agency contracts stipulated by the major insurance companies in Italy, accepting the commitments proposed by the parties. The Authority also initiated a new investigation on the mortgage loans offered by six banks in South Tyrol and decided to further extend the closing date of the investigation, initiated in 2012, on a potential collusion in the insurance tenders called by some public transport companies. With regard to concentrations, in 2014 the Agcm adopted two decisions relating to the complex merger, authorized in June 2012, between two insurance groups (Premafin Fondiaria Sai and Unipol): the first proceeding, concerning the failure to comply with the authorization conditions, was closed without any sanctions, while with the second decision the Authority approved the request to amend some previously-imposed measures. Regarding the decisions in the field of regulated professions in 2014, the Agcm qualified as anticompetitive three agreements: the first put in place by the “Consiglio Nazionale Forense” (Cnf) concerning trade advertising and professional charges; the second by the “Federazione nazionale degli ordini dei medici chirurghi e degli odontoiatri” (Fnomceo), which radically limited the employment of trade advertising between doctors; the last one by the “Confederazione Italiana delle associazioni condominiali” (Confiac), charged with releasing an anticompetitive listing of charges and imposing information burdens to its own members which restrict competition.