Competitors Bureau opens investigation into Utilized Techniques

Insurance coverage software program enterprise Utilized Techniques is going through a Canadian Competitors Bureau investigation into alleged “anti-competitive” conduct.

The Federal Court docket of Canada granted an order on November 14, 2023, requiring Utilized Techniques Canada to supply information and written data for the Competitors Bureau’s investigation.

The Competitors Bureau will use data obtained throughout its Utilized Techniques investigation to “decide if the alleged conduct is harming competitors in Canada’s insurance coverage expertise (insurtech) business,” the division mentioned in a brand new launch.

The division is additional set to research “whether or not Utilized Techniques is partaking in conduct opposite to the restrictive commerce practices provisions of the Competitors Act, together with the abuse of dominance provision.”

What’s abuse of dominance?

Abuse of dominance is when a enterprise or group of companies engages in exercise that stops market competitors or considerably lessens it.

Companies which are discovered to have engaged in abuse of dominance can face a spread of treatments, together with consensual resolutions, orders to endure structural and behavioural modifications, prohibition and prescriptive orders, or administrative penalties together with a high-quality of as much as CA$10 million for the primary order, and CA$15 million for every subsequent order.

Utilized Techniques says it’s “totally cooperating” with Competitors Bureau competitors investigation

In an announcement shared with Insurance coverage Enterprise, Utilized Techniques confirmed it’s conscious of the investigation and is “totally cooperating” with the evaluate course of.

“There was no discovering of any non-compliance. We imagine Utilized is in compliance with the Competitors Act and we’re assured that we’ll efficiently resolve the investigation,” mentioned Utilized Techniques chief authorized counsel Wealthy Cohan.

“Our folks stay dedicated to Utilized’s mission to ship innovation that creates extra worth for the whole world insurance coverage worth chain and allow brokerages, insurers, and companions to safeguard and shield what issues most to hundreds of thousands of individuals around the globe.”

Canada up to date its Competitors Act final yr to broaden its scope

Canada’s parliament added amendments to the nation’s Competitors Act in June 2022, broadening its scope and clarifying an anti-competitive act as one that’s “supposed to have a predatory, exclusionary, or disciplinary unfavourable influence on a competitor, or to have an antagonistic impact on competitors.”

“I’ve been fairly clear that our competitors regulation is now not match for our fashionable financial system and lags far behind the perfect practices in use by different international locations around the globe,” Boswell mentioned.

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