Examines the European Commission's practice with regard to the failing firm defence as an element of its counterfactual assessment under Regulation 139/2004 (Merger Regulation), and considers whether the three stage test for the defence should be interpreted more flexibly in times of economic...

This paper closely scrutinizes the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) paying particular attention to important parts of the preamble, investor protection instruments, whether or not a fiduciary relationship exists between an investor and a firm and the role that it plays as well...