Our Curious Amalgam

Digital financial services are transforming the way we bank, borrow, save, invest, and make payments. But are these innovations creating more competitive markets, or are they simply fostering new forms of market power? On this episode of Our Curious Amalgam, we speak with Beatriz Marques of the OECD Competition Division about the evolving competitive landscape in digital finance. We explore the role of FinTechs, incumbent banks, card networks, and BigTech platforms; the importance of data, interoperability, and open banking; and what competition authorities can do to foster innovation while protecting competition and consumers in an increasingly digital financial ecosystem.
With special guest:
Beatriz Marques, OECD
 
Related Links:
OECD (2025), "Competition in mobile payment services", OECD Roundtables on Competition Policy Papers, No. 324, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2025), "Balancing prudential regulation and competition considerations in banking", OECD Roundtables on Competition Policy Papers, No. 329, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2026), "Banking Unbundled: Competition in the Age of Digitalisation"
Hosted by:
Anora Wang, Arnold & Porter and Lexi Michaud, Fried Frank

Vertical merger review has long rested on the principle that competitive harm is most likely when a merged firm has both the ability and incentive to foreclose rivals, yet courts and enforcers often struggle to establish that harm empirically. But can potentially anticompetitive vertical integrations be screened in advance using observable market characteristics? Charles Hodgson, Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University and Faculty Research Fellow at the NBER, and Shilong Sun, Senior Economist at Compass Lexecon, join Anora Wang and Panos Dimitrellos to discuss how evidence from the Chinese film industry sheds light on when vertical foreclosure is likely to emerge, why downstream concentration and upstream product substitutability matter, and how these findings may inform modern merger review across industries ranging from movie theaters to digital platforms. Listen to this episode to learn more about how a practical screening framework for vertical mergers could help identify when foreclosure concerns are most likely to arise and provide enforcers and practitioners with a more evidence-based approach to assessing competitive harm.
With special guests:
Charles Hodgson, Professor, Yale and Shilong Sun, Dr., Compass Lexecon

Related Links:
Charles Hodgson bio
Shilong Sun bio 
Heterogeneity in Vertical Foreclosure: Evidence from the Chinese Film Industry 
Hosted by:
Panos Dimitrellos, Secretariat Economists and Anora Wang, Arnold & Porter

AI is transforming all areas of legal practice. But what are the special issues in antitrust? Daniel Schwarz, CEO and Founder of CompetitionAI and a former antitrust attorney at Clifford Chance and the IMF, joins Matthew Hall and Alysha Pannu to discuss the use of AI in antitrust now and in the future and its impact on lawyers and competition authorities. Listen to this episode to learn more about CompetitionAI and the impact of AI on antitrust practice and enforcement.
With special guest:
Daniel Schwarz, co-founder, CompetitionAI

Related Links:
CompetitionAI website

Hosted by:
Matthew Hall, McGuireWoods and Alysha Pannu, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt

Are you as AI fluent as you should be? The American Bar Association's "21 Days of AI: A Grit and Growth Mindset Challenge" is a free online resource that offers a path toward becoming adept in the use of AI to enhance legal practice and professional development. In this episode, hosts Alicia Downey and James Hunsberger speak with legal innovation strategist and "21 Days of AI" co-author Gabrielle Kohlmeier about the origins of the Challenge and how closing the AI knowledge gender gap was a key driver of the project. Listen and learn how the "21 Days of AI" can level the AI fluency playing field not just for women lawyers, but for anyone contending with the AI revolution in their work and personal life.
With special guest:
Gabrielle ZA Kohlmeier, Principal and Founder, GK Strategic Advisory, former Verizon Global Head of Legal Change

Related Links:
The 21 Days of AI: A Grit and Growth Mindset Challenge 
The Grit and Growth Mindset Project

Hosted by:
Alicia Downey, Downey Law and James Hunsberger, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider

What have been the latest competition law developments across the Middle East and Africa in the last year? Nicolas Bremer and John Oxenham join Matthew Hall and Jeny Maier to discuss new filing regimes, agency priorities and hot topics for competition law compliance in jurisdictions across the Middle East, COMESA, and South Africa. Listen to this episode to get up to speed on what to know about these rapidly developing and evolving jurisdictions.

With special guests:
Nicolas Bremer, Partner, Bremer Law Firm and John Oxenham, Partner, Primerio

Hosted by:
Matthew Hall, McGuireWoods and Jeny Maier, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider