Litigating Director Disqualification

By: Kyle Le Croy & Richard Whish KC (Norton Rose Fulbright)

The CMA has increasingly utilized its director disqualification powers in recent years to deter individuals from violating UK competition law. Directors can be disqualified for up to 15 years if they knew or should have known about their company’s involvement in an infringement. Kyle Le Croy and Richard Whish KC discuss this trend and the rise in related litigation.

Individuals can agree to a disqualification period with the CMA through undertakings, but the CMA is also increasingly seeking disqualification orders in the High Court when undertakings are not agreed upon. Some disqualified directors have sought permission to continue acting as a director or managing a company. In February 2024, the High Court notably rejected such a request from a director who had agreed to a seven-year disqualification for their role in construction bid-rigging.

So far, disqualified directors tend to come from smaller companies. However, directors of larger companies face greater risks now that the CMA is investigating major antitrust cases in the UK post-Brexit, a role previously handled by the European Commission, which lacks disqualification powers…

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