The previous two pieces within the “Regulator and In-House Counsel of the Month” series have focused on regulators, this is our first in-house counsel piece. It is with pleasure that I can confirm the piece is on the work of Camilla Jain Holtse who is Chief Legal Counsel, Head of Competition Compliance at Maersk Line A/S.
Q. You moved from being an external counsel to an in-house counsel; why did you do this and how has your role changed?
A. I started working for Maersk Line a little over two years ago as the head of competition compliance globally. My primary role is overseeing global competition compliance whereby providing advice to Maersk Line to help navigate the various competition and antitrust laws in the EU and abroad. In general our major partnerships and involvement with other companies as well as our business practices can all implicate competition law in one way or another. I am very involved in the shaping of our alliances, joint ventures, or other strategic deals as any major alliance, joint venture or merger will likely be subject to review by competition authorities. I draft and coordinate all responses to, approaches and interaction with competition authorities and other regulators globally. In the circumstances I appear before, present and conduct negotiations with competition authorities. I handle antitrust investigations and engage in antitrust policy work when of strategic importance for Maersk Line.
We are a competition compliance/regulatory team of now three FTE in Maersk Line. Moreover we are also responsible for giving day-to-day advice on competition law drafting do’s and don’ts, conducting competition law/antitrust training worldwide, doing targeted audits and maintaining and developing our competition compliance program.
Some of the notable projects I’ve already had the chance to work on and that were publicly announced include the 2M alliance that superseded the contemplated P3 alliance, this deal was blocked by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) in June 2014; and then the European Commission’s price signalling investigation into the liner shipping industry.
Prior to joining Maersk Line, I worked in private practice for over a decade and was very happy working in a large law firm. However, in recent years I increasingly missed the international dimension of working with competition law. I felt that for a Danish lawyer today the work tends to focus more on domestic issues compared to, for example, 10 years ago.
I was not looking for an in-house position as such, but had previously heard a presentation at a conference by one of my predecessors in the Maersk Group on what it was like to work as global competition law counsel in Maersk. I remembered thinking that that job must be one of the greatest and most interesting in the world and when I was made aware of the posted job position as head of competition compliance for Maersk Line two years later, I knew instantly that I had to apply and I sent an application the same evening!
I have not been disappointed. It is a truly great privilege to work for Maersk Line. The work is immensely interesting and complex and it is a fantastic opportunity to learn about all aspects of the business; and to get to be part of the tailoring and planning of strategic projects right from the time a business idea occurs in the mind of somebody, through its “testing phase”, and to its final implementation. Maersk Line is a company that lives very high ethical values and wants to do the right thing. Competition compliance therefore is very high on the agenda. This means that we have the full support and ear of top management which makes our work easier.
Furthermore, as competition counsel in Maersk Line, you get to travel the world and work with colleagues, counsels and competition regulators in all parts of the world which is very interesting and educational. Moreover, you get to speak your voice in respect of new competition legislation affecting our industry.
Another great advantage of being in-house counsel in Maersk Line is that if you are proactive and interested, the business is willing to invest a great amount of time and resources in you and teach you about the industry, the business, the projects etc. which ultimately helps you become a much better counsel.
Q. What are the main challenges you face being in-house counsel?
A. As for the challenges of being in-house, it is for one thing learning to prioritise and constantly re-prioritise the numerous assignments and constant new inquiries; juggling all the meetings, calls and interruptions that usually take place on a daily basis, and getting the work done. Furthermore, you may suddenly have to travel if there is an acute situation in some country.
There isn’t really a typical day in Maersk Line. We work on a lot of different projects, and my day can very easily get captured by unforeseen events, but this is precisely also what I find fun. Having emphasised some differences between working in-house and in private practice, I should also underline that the work is not all that different. To the greatest extent possible we try and run the Maersk Line legal department as a law firm and focus on service, being proactive, responsive, thorough, and creative and solution-oriented.
Q. What aspects of competition law most interest you?
A. Generally, all aspects of competition law interest me but in particular I enjoy complex first-time problems and tough and challenging assignments where you can make a difference. I find it rewarding to find alternative solutions that achieve the business’ goals but at the same time reduce and ease the impact on competition law and hence the regulatory burden. I have found that global competition law is getting ever more challenging with the number of countries who have a competition law in place. Also there is more and more global coordination amongst regulators taking place whilst at the same time substantial and important differences continue to subsist between the merger control laws globally.
Q. There are a lot of high profile investigations and strategies which in one way or another will affect competition law in the future, such as the digital single market strategy. With this in mind how do you see competition law changing, if at all, in the new year?
A. Right now we see lots of attempts to increase coordination amongst competition authorities globally. One of the latest examples is the signing of the practical paper between China and EU in the context of merger control. The paper sets out an aim to cooperate on matters such as substance and timing issues. I think we will see more of global coordination taking place in the future and in that context I would also highlight the increasing importance of regional alliances such as COMESA, ASEAN etc. Although important differences in the competition laws need to be in place, such initiatives are generally welcomed to the extent that they can lead to more common standards and thus reduce legal uncertainty. Due to the increase in global coordination amongst competition authorities I also think we should expect more and more common issues and cross-pollination occurring globally. Finally, as new competition regimes begin to mature, I think we should expect more and more cartel investigations taking place, for example in Asia and the ASEAN region.
The previous posts of this nature were by Nelson Jung of the UK CMA and Sofia Alves of the Portuguese Competition Authority.
