On Disclosure And Conflicts of Interests: Three Years Later, We Are In a Better Place

By: Pablo Ibañez Colomo (Chilling Competition)

With so much at stake in competition law disputes, one is hardly surprised by news about corporate funding and/or an academic failing to disclose potential conflicts of interests. These stories are bound to make the headlines every now and then. Two were featured last week (see here and here).

News about potential bad practice (and/or companies fighting by other means) are always concerning. This time around, however, I like to see the glass half full. I am reminded of the situation three years ago, when similar news broke in sensational fashion.

I wrote about disclosures and conflicts of interest at the time (see here) and I invited Cyril Ritter to do the same (see here).

My main concern then (other than the use of academics as fodder in a proxy war) was the absence of guidance: without clear rules on disclosure, any views could be potentially discredited as suspicious (the infamous ‘if you say that, it must be because someone is paying you’)…

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