Tackling Anti-competitive Unilateral Acts under the Ethiopian Competition Regime: A Case Study of Electronic Trading at Ethiopia Commodity Exchange
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Date
2018-05
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Addis Ababa
Abstract
Anticompetitive Unilateral Acts are one of Anticompetitive Acts markets could face. The 2014
Ethiopian Trade competition and consumer protection proclamation, inter alia, provide rules for
acts of unfair competition and these rules are the closet rules which resembles to
Anticompetitive Unilateral Act; despite their focus on violation of intellectual property rights
such as misleading advertisement false allegation etc. against another trader. As a market
which facilitates competitive trading platform, the Electronic Trading System in Ethiopia
Commodity Exchange is expected to implement competition law of the country. The Electronic
Trading System faced / still faces various Anticompetitive Acts; including Anlicompetitive
Unilateral Acts. The Anticompetitive Unilateral Acts observed in the Commodity Exchange
includes flash crashing, Unrepresentative pricing, Failure / refusal to submit trade orders, Pace
making, Marking the closing price, Cornering, Dumping, and Matching orders. These
Anticompetitive Unilateral Acts are not directly or indirectly mentioned under the compelition
and consumer protection proclamation. Considering the substantive content of unfair
competition rules of the Trade Competition and Consumer Proleclion and Anlicompetilive
Unilateral Acts observed in the Commodity Exchange's Electronic Trading System, this thesis
investigates whether unfair competition rules under the Competition and Consumer Prolection
Proclamation are the best means to lackle Anricompelitive Unilateral Acts observed in the
commodity exchange's Electronic Trading System or not. Particularly, the Ihesis revolves
around IWO research questions: (J), does the existing competition regime provide proper rules
which adequately tackle Ihe Anticompetitive Unilateral Acls observed in the Ethiopia
Commodity Exchange Electronic Trading ? And (2), how are the exisling Anticompelitive
Unilaleral Acts in Ihe Ethiopia Commodity Exchange Electronic Trading being tackled by Ihe
exchange's rules and are the measures consistent with Ihe rules of the competition law? It is inIhis light that this thesis seeks to invesligate the nature of unfair competition rules of the
Competition and Consumer Protection Proclamation, Anticompetitive Unilateral Acts Observed
in the Electronic Trading System of the Commodity Exchange, rules of the Commodity
Exchange, and incidents addressed by the commodity exchange inlhis regard.