On October 20, students from UCLA Anderson and UCLA School of Law gathered in the Grand Salon of UCLA Anderson’s Marion Anderson Hall for the inaugural Global Business & Policy Forum of the 2026-27 academic year. Hosted jointly by the UCLA Anderson Center for Global Management (CGM) and the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy (LMI), the event marked the 14th year of this collaborative series.

The evening’s discussion, titled Antitrust Without Borders, explored the growing global reach of competition enforcement. As competition authorities around the world assume an increasingly active role in reviewing mergers, acquisitions, and business practices, companies face a new reality: decisions affecting predominantly U.S. firms and markets can be shaped by regulators far beyond America’s borders. From Washington and Brussels to Beijing and other major jurisdictions, antitrust enforcement has become a global enterprise. Recent transactions illustrate how companies must navigate a complex web of regulatory reviews across multiple countries, creating both strategic challenges and uncertainty for firms operating in an interconnected global economy.

The forum featured distinguished guest speaker Richard Parker (J.D. ’74), Partner at Milbank LLP and one of the nation’s leading antitrust practitioners. Drawing on decades of experience at the highest levels of antitrust enforcement and litigation, Parker joined Michael Dorff, Professor of Practice and Executive Director of LMI, for a moderated conversation. He offered an insider’s perspective on the landmark competition cases and merger reviews reshaping the U.S. economy, the growing influence of antitrust regulators worldwide, and what the next chapter of global competition policy means for corporations, consumers and markets.

Key topics included how the global competition landscape has evolved over the past several decades, cross-border considerations, how political and economic priorities can shape merger review, international price-fixing investigations, states challenging transactions cleared by federal agencies, and key takeaways for students regarding antitrust risk. The discussion concluded with a Q&A session with the audience.

Students from Anderson’s MBA, MFE, MSBA and Ph.D. programs, as well as the Law School’s LLM and JD programs, participated in the evening, which began with a networking event and concluded with dinner. Attendees engaged in interactive table discussions exploring the intersection of business strategy and legal regulation in today’s global economy. Using a cross-border acquisition scenario, students considered how companies should navigate differing antitrust requirements and competing regulatory demands across jurisdictions, weighing when to proceed, restructure, or abandon a deal. They also discussed whether competition laws should be harmonized globally or continue to reflect national economic and political priorities, reflecting on the advantages and challenges of both approaches and how the evening’s discussion influenced their perspectives.

The event was also livestreamed, drawing additional participation from students, alumni, and members of the broader UCLA and local communities. The insights shared offered a timely and nuanced understanding of the growing global reach of antitrust enforcement and its implications for businesses, consumers, and markets worldwide.

The Global Business and Policy Forum is a collaborative partnership between the Center for Global Management and UCLA School of Law’s Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy.

Watch the recording of the discussion.