Tag Archives: FANG

Mark Warner was quoted in the Wall Street Journal about the Canadian Competition Bureau initiating a civil investigation of Amazon with a focus on potential abuse of dominance. (August 14, 2020) This follows on the September 2019 Bureau “call-out” to market participants for information on potentially anti-competitive conduct in the digital economy. Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate, and represented the OECD Trade Directorate at meetings of the WTO Working Group on Trade and Competition and the Working Group on Trade and Investment.

Mark chaired an Insight Research Canadian Sharing Economy Symposium in Toronto in 2015. As a former Acting Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, Mark was responsible for prosecutions under the provincial consumer protection laws and regulations. Mark’s experience with online technologies and e-commerce includes: participating in OECD-wide policy work on laws and regulations affecting e-commerce, acting as Chair, ICC Competition Commission Working Party on E-Commerce and Competition Policy, serving as an original ICANN domain name dispute resolution arbitrator for eResolution and WIPO and as Rapporteur of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Commission on Jurisdiction for Torts in Electronic Commerce.

Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised the Ontario Government with respect to cross-border trade in services, state enterprises and monopolies in the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mark also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation and advised on research and innovation grants and loans to academics, universities and corporations.

Mark Warner gives a “Crystal ball” outlook for 2020, lessons learned in 2019 and a possible ‘Black Swan’ event on the CBC Weekend Business Panel. (December 28, 2019) Lessons learned in 2019 include the importance of compliance and corporate governance issues. Predictions for 2020 include the continuation of U.S.-China and Canada-China trade tensions and increasing regulatory focus on Big Tech. The possible Black Swan event relates to the possible failure of the U.S. Senate to pass the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) / NAFTA 2.0.

Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations. As counsel at the OECD Trade Directorate, Mark advised on harmful tax competition issues and worked on other trade and competition issues. As Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mark led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade Mark provided strategic legal advice with respect to the Ontario’s economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations and trade and investment disputes. Mark is also a former Acting Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services which provided oversight to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and the Vintners Quality Alliance Ontario (VQA) He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.