(continued)

In the period 2006-2011, Rob was responsible for the application of competition law in Jersey as the competition expert at the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA). Responsibilities included the enforcement of all areas of competition law including merger control and the prohibition of both anti-competitive arrangements and the abuse of a dominant position.

In the period 2001-2006, Rob was a senior member of staff at the Dutch competition authority Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit (Nma; the current ACM). Major projects include the market investigations of the motor fuels market and the construction market. Rob developed and lead the analysis of leniency applications for the cartel investigation in relation to the Dutch construction sector. He was subsequently seconded to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, working on public procurement legislation using his experience on bid-rigging.

Thought leadership

Rob has extensive experience with providing workshops and lectures on competition economics. This includes workshops at law firms, lectures at the University of Groningen, presentations at conferences and teleseminars for the International Competition Network (ICN). Rob regularly publishes articles, with a focus on the application of competition law in small jurisdictions. He was the Channel Islands country correspondent for the European Competition Law Review (2012-2021).

Publications include:

Quantification of damages in competition litigation (with B. Augustin), Competition Litigation 2016: The Strategic View, pp.17-21.

The IBER renewal discussion: a public policy failure? European Competition Law Review, Volume 37: Issue 10 2016, pp.403-405

‘Strictness of leniency programs and asymmetric punishment effect’ (with E. Motchenkova), International Review of Economics, Volume 58, Issue 4, Page 401-431, http://www.springerlink.com/content/y12261un43vp3014/fulltext.pdf

Rob van der Laan

Rob is an internationally recognised expert in the application of competition economics with about 25 years of experience. Rob’s qualifications include a PhD in law and economics, an MSc in economics and an LLM in international law.

In the period August 2023- August 2026, Rob was an advisor to the Saudi Arabian competition authority. Rob provided on-demand advice (legal and economic) to individual case officers, directors and senior management at the General Authority for Competition (the national competition authority for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). In complicated cases (e.g. international "Phase 2" cases), I act as the case manager. I provide internal training, (e.g. a 12-session training for the merger unit). I established closer ties with the ICN, ensuring that the GAC actively engages in all five ICN working groups.

Rob started as a consultant from September 2011. Prior to founding OmniCLES in early 2014, Rob led the competition economics proposition for EY (Ernst & Young LLP) from London. Projects performed whilst working for EY include the review of data taken for indications of potential infringements following a dawn raid, advising in relation to a leniency application and providing economic analysis for merger applications.

Rob was the in-house competition law expert at the financial service provider Achema, a Fortune Global 500 company in the period 2016-2023.

OmniCLES is an independent economic consultancy providing advice and services to or through law firms in relation to the economic questions that emerge in the context of competition law. CLES stands for Competition Law Economic Services, omni refers both to the comprehensive range of services and the fact that OmniCLES offers its services throughout the world. OmniCLES was founded in 2014 by dr. Rob van der Laan. Rob has about 25 years experience in the application of competition law and in particular the use of economic theory therein, of which about 15 years at three national competition authorities and several years as an advisor in a leading international consultancy.