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LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - British regulators should be givenwider powers to block mergers, particularly if a company hasstrategic significance, after the country's exit from theEuropean Union, Sharon White, head of communications watchdogOfcom said.
Britain should use the opportunity presented by Brexit tobolster the capacities and powers of its regulators, White saidin a speech on Thursday to the Institute for Government.
The formal two-year process for Britain to leave theEuropean Union is due to be triggered by March 2017, the exitwill require transferring all European laws which have an impacton the United Kingdom into a domestic framework.
"We have the opportunity to introduce a wider set ofconsiderations in merger decisions, including policy orpublic-interest concerns where a company is deemed to haveparticular strategic significance for the UK," she said.
But she said any adoption of greater powers would not amountto "regulatory creep" or "new powers for the sake of it".
White also called for the introduction of new protectionsfor consumers to prevent markets being uncompetitive, anargument she said the European Commission had failed to heed.
Telecoms has undergone further consolidation in recentyears, with BT's purchase of mobile operator EE clearedby regulators, while Three's acquisition of O2 was blocked,leading to its owner Spanish Telefonica to seek apublic listing for the mobile operator.
Investment bankers advising companies on M&A warn privatelyof increasing scrutiny over mergers and acquisitions driven bywhat they see as political motivated protectionism following theelection of Donald Trump and Britain's vote to quit the EU.
Ofcom said on Tuesday it will go to the European Commissionto try to force BT to legally separate Openreach, the divisionthat supplies broadband to millions of homes and businesses, ina bid to spur investment in the country's ageing network. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Alexander Smith)
