The UK Government announced proposals for reform of the private competition damages regime in the UK, proposing to increase the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) power and introduce an opt-out "collective action" scheme before the CAT (see here). The proposed changes are unlikely to come into force until 2015, at the earliest. Do the proposals herald a US-style class action culture in the UK, as some commentators predict, or will the safeguards proposed by the Government lead to more moderate results?