Fifteen years ago, some companies joked that their competition compliance programme consisted of a shredder. Now, creating training programmes, implementing networks of communication and creating internal avenues for whistleblowers is an integral part of business for in-house and private practice lawyers. Despite the importance of compliance in preventing antitrust violations, competition authorities have issued relatively little guidance on the subject. Rosalind Donald investigates

Title: Associate general counsel Age: 50 Company: Microsoft Previous employment: Partner, Coudert Brothers LLP. Art is also a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and the University of Liège

Growing awareness of competition law and an increasingly active competition authority has left France’s antitrust bar bursting at the seams. Rachel Bull went to Paris to find out more

Despite being a relatively young agency, France’s Competition Authority is among the most active enforcers of antitrust law in Europe. In a country where policies are refined and awareness of the law widespread, what issues could the authority possibly face? Rachel Bull finds out

Texas’s competition bar: In the Lone Star State, litigation is the rule, and some of the most contentious industries in the US – energy and health care among them – turn to the state’s courtroom warriors to hash out antitrust issues. Ron Knox explores which Texas antitrust practices are capable of fighting and winning cases for clients in the wild, wild west

The state of the States: A report published late last year painted a bleak picture of the relationship between the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division and its counterparts at the state level. But was the relationship truly as bad as it might have appeared? And has a new approach to the relationship at the division resulted in real changes? Ron Knox investigates

The European Commission has ushered in new rules for purchase and distribution agreements, a decade on from its last review of the vertical restraints regime. Emily Gray examines the key changes to the regulation and guidelines – and the repercussions of those changes for the business community

Mark Berry’s appointment to chair of New Zealand’s Commerce Commission met with mixed reactions. Was it a bid to curtail the commission’s powers or a pragmatic appointment that recognises the importance of competition to New Zealand’s economy? Rosalind Donald investigates