UK watchdog warns of risk of procurement bid-rigging
The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Chief Executive Sarah Cardell warned on Sunday that the British procurement markets are at "significant risk of bid-rigging." She told the Financial Times that the agency is testing a new artificial intelligence tool that would analyze large amounts of bidding data, searching for anomalies and "areas of potential anti-competitive conduct."
Cardell also pointed to a new government program that will come into force in February, which should simplify the bidding process but also enable the government to ban companies from bidding if they break the rules. She said the new legislation has "a real potential to drive billions of savings for the public purse, but also obviously enhancing public sector productivity."