Foreword The changes to the United Kingdom’s (UK) competition law system, introduced under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and in force since April 2014, are designed to improve the effectiveness of competition law enforcement in this country. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has competition law powers which apply across the whole economy. Sectoral regulators such as the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) may exercise the competition law powers to enforce the prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements and on abuse of a dominant position, and to make market investigation references, concurrently with the CMA in those sectors for which they have responsibility. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 introduced a number of changes to improve the working of concurrency and enable closer working between the CMA and sectoral regulators. The CMA and the sectoral regulators have demonstrated their commitment to making the concurrency framework more effective through the establishment of the UK Competition Network (UKCN). This represents an enhanced forum for cooperation which will enable closer working with the objective of more consistent and effective use of competition powers across all sectors. In their statement of intent in December 2013, the members of the UKCN affirmed: ‘The mission of the UKCN will be to promote competition for the benefit of consumers and to prevent anti-competitive behaviour both through facilitating use of competition powers and development of pro-competitive regulatory frameworks, as appropriate.’1 This memorandum of understanding (MoU) represents a further stage in the process of cooperation between the CMA and the regulators, setting out more practical detail on how the CMA and Xxxxx will work together within the framework of competition law.2 The main purpose of this MoU is to establish an understanding between the CMA and Ofwat as to how this closer working will work in practice. It draws on the legislation which sets out the formal framework for how concurrency will operate and also, importantly, sets out our bilateral commitment to look for opportunities to work 1 UKCN (2013), Statement of Intent. 2 This MoU does not relate to ‘regulatory appeals’ – that is, the separate role that the CMA has in considering appeals against, or references relating to, proposed direct regulatory action by Ofwat under the sectoral statutes. This is a separate role, to be undertaken by the CMA panel, and the CMA is committed to ensuring that its cooperation with Ofwat – whether under this MoU (and under comparable MoU agreed with other sectoral regulators), through the UKCN, or otherwise in connection with their concurrent powers – will not impair the impartiality and fairness of the CMA’s conduct of such regulatory appeals (or indeed of market or merger investigations undertaken by the CMA panel). together, including within the framework of the UKCN, to promote competition for the benefit of consumers. We shall do this by the sharing of expertise, information, ideas and experience and each of us will commit to doing this efficiently and with a mutual regard for each other’s statutory position and strategic objectives. Water and sewerage markets are in the process of liberalisation, with the aim of fostering more competitive markets for the benefit of current and future customers. As markets evolve, competition enforcement under the Competition Act 1998 and review of markets under the Enterprise Act 2002 will be increasingly important tools to enable the development of effective competition in the sector. We believe that this MoU offers a valuable basis for that cooperation, in the interests of the CMA, Ofwat, the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales and, most importantly of all, the consumers.
User Content 13.1 The Site permits the submission and posting of questions and answers in connection with Evaluation Processes and may also permit the submission and posting of other text and/or other content submitted by you and other users (all of the foregoing, collectively, “User Submissions”), and the hosting, sharing, and/or publishing of such User Submissions. You understand that whether or not such User Submissions are published, the Company does not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any User Submissions. You acknowledge that you shall not be due any remuneration in connection with your User Submissions from the Company or from any other User.
13.2 You shall be solely responsible for your own User Submissions and the consequences of posting or publishing them. In connection with your User Submissions, you affirm, represent, and/or warrant that: (i) your submission of User Submissions and the publication and use thereof by the Company does not violate the copyrights, trade secrets rights or other intellectual property rights of any third party, nor shall it constitute or result in a breach of any duty or obligation of confidentiality owed by you to any third party, and (ii) you have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in the User Submission to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use of the User Submissions in the manner contemplated by the Company and this Agreement.
13.3 By submitting User Submissions to the Site, you hereby grant to the Company a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute and exploit such User Submission in any manner and in any form of media, whether currently or hereafter existing. You represent and warrant that you have all necessary right, title and interest in and to each such User Submission to validly grant such license to the Company.
13.4 In connection with User Submissions and any other transmission of messages or material facilitated by the Site, you further agree that you will not: (i) submit or transmit material that is not authorized by the copyright owner, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and grant the rights granted to the Company in Section 13.3 above; (ii) publish or transmit falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage the Company or any third party; (iii) submit or transmit material that is unlawful, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law or is otherwise inappropriate; (iv) post or transmit advertisements or solicitations of business; or (v) impersonate another person. If notified by a user or a content owner of a User Submission that allegedly does not conform to this Agreement, the Company may investigate the allegation and determine in good faith and in its sole discretion whether to remove the User Submission, which it reserves the right to do at any time. Additionally, the Company may, at any time, remove any User Submission that in the sole judgment of the Company violates this Agreement.
13.5 User Submissions may be provided by (without limitation) Users who are members of a Start-Up management team, contacts referred by Start-Ups (including without limitation customers, scientific advisors, background references, suppliers and distributors), external experts referred by the Company. The insights, recommendations, views and other content reflected in a User Submission should be taken as opinion rather than statements of facts. Investors should conduct their own diligence before making an investment. Nothing contained in a User Submission constitutes tax, legal, insurance or investment advice, or the recommendation of or an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or invest in, any investment product, vehicle, service or instrument. Such an offer or solicitation may only be made by delivery to a prospective investor of formal offering materials, including subscription or account documents or form, which should be reviewed carefully by any such investor before making the decision to invest in any particular company issuer listed, reviewed or discussed on the Propel(x) platform. To the maximum extent permitted under applicable law, you hereby release Propel(x) (and our officers, directors, agents, investors, subsidiaries, and employees) and each other User from any and all claims, demands, liabilities, losses or damages (whether direct, indirect, consequential, incidental or otherwise) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected or unsuspected, arising out of or in any way related to User Submissions (including your reliance thereon). You acknowledge that, in connection with the foregoing release, you hereby irrevocably waive all rights granted to you under Section 1542 of the California Civil Code or any analogous applicable state or federal law or regulation. Said Section 1542 of the Civil Code of the State of California reads as follows:
