The Competition CommissionThe Competition Commission is an independent public body established by the Competition Act 1998. It replaced the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on 1 April 1999. The Commission conducts in-depth investigations into mergers , markets and regulation of the main regulated industries. Each investigation is undertaken in response to a referral made to it by another authority: usually by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), but in some circumstances by the Secretary of State, or by regulators under sector-specific legislation relating to the industries regulated. The Commission does not have the power to conduct investigations on its own initiative. The Enterprise Act 2002 introduces a new regime for the assessment of mergers and markets in the UK. In most merger and market cases, the Commission is responsible for decisions on competition issues and for adopting and implementing decisions on appropriate remedies. Under the legislation that the Act replaces, the Commission had to determine whether the matters were contrary to the public interest. The public interest test is replaced by tests specifically focused on competition issues. The new regime also differs from the previous regime where the Commission's power in relation to remedies was only to make recommendations to the Secretary of State. What is the commission investigating? SOURCES OF INVESTIGATIONS TYPE OF INVESTIGATION GOVERNING LEGISLATION REFERENCED BY: Market Enterprise Act 2002 Office of Fair Trading, Secretary of State or certain UtilityRegulatorsMergerEnterprise Act 2002EC Merger Regulation... in the middle of the document... by [the Commission]... at purpose of remedying, mitigating or preventing the substantial lessening of competition concerned or any adverse effect which has resulted from, or may be expected to result from, a substantial lessening of competition; whether [the Commission] should recommend the adoption of measures by others with a view to remedying, mitigating or preventing the substantial lessening of competition concerned or any adverse effect which has resulted from, or may be expected to result from, the substantial lessening of competition competition; and in both cases, if action needs to be taken, what actions should be taken and what needs to be remedied, mitigated or prevented. If the Commission considers that there is no anti-competitive result resulting from the concentration, the question of considering remedies does not arise.