Competitions And Markets Authority (Cma) Definition

The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government, responsible for enforcing competition and consumer protection law.

The CMA was created on 1 October 2014 by the merger of the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading. The merger followed a review of the UK’s competition regime by John Fingleton, which concluded that a single competition authority would be more effective at promoting competition and protecting consumers.

The CMA has a wide range of powers to enable it to carry out its functions, including the power to investigate suspected breaches of competition law, impose fines, and order businesses to change their practices. The CMA also has powers to intervene in markets where it believes there is a problem with competition.

The CMA is headed by two co-chairs: Andrea Coscelli and Nisha Arora. The current chief executive is Andrea Coscelli.