Portrait of Helen Ralston-Smith

Helen Ralston-Smith : Partner

Helen has almost 20 years of professional experience in applying economic principles to issues of strategic importance for businesses, predominantly in the context of litigation and competition investigations. Much of her work has focused on high-profile cases such as the European Commission’s investigations into foreign exchange trading and government bond trading, as well as national competition and regulatory authority investigations into parity clauses and allegations of excessive pricing.

Helen testified at the UK CAT on behalf of Comparethemarket where she was described by the CAT as ‘a formidable witness, clearly master of her discipline’. She has also presented oral evidence to the European Commission and the CMA, as well as to international regulators and authorities such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Mexican competition authority.

Helen speaks English.

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6623

Helen's specialisms include:

Selected
professional experience

  • Economic adviser to AXA in its commercial dispute with Santander regarding PPI remediation liability at the High Court—case number: CL-2021-000046 (2025)

  • Economic expert to Booking.com in the context of an excessive pricing investigation by the Swiss Price Surveillance Office (2025–)

  • Economic adviser to Bank of Georgia in the context of an alleged abuse of dominance in retail banking and payments (2025–)

  • Economic adviser to Bank of Greece in the context of the proposed acquisition Ethniki by Piraeus (2025–)

  • Joint Project Director of the team providing expert testimony on behalf of the defendants, regarding supplier pass-on, in the context of second wave trucks proceeding at the CAT (2025–)

  • Providing an independent benchmarking analysis for Australian Securities exchange in the context of regulatory scrutiny over the prices of its post-trade services (2025–)

Selected
publications

  • Ralston, H. and Shone, T. (2023), ‘MFNs: the latest turn in the policy debate – key lessons from the CAT’s judgment on CompareTheMarket’s use of wide MFNs in home insurance’, Competition Law Journal, 22:1.

  • Antuca, A., Niels, G. and Ralston, H. (2023), ‘Compare the markets: Two-sided market definition in the Comparethemarket case’, CPI Antitrust Chronicle, January.

  • Alimonti, R., Neurohr, B. and Ralston, H. (2021), ‘Digital markets and implications for competition policy: Evidence from recent economic analysis’, in P.L. Parcu, G. Monti and M. Botta (eds), Economic Analysis in EU Competition Policy: Recent Trends at the National and EU Level, Edward Elgar Publishing, Chapter 6, pp. 113–46.

  • Ralston, H. and Niels, G. (2021), ‘Two-sided market definition: some common misunderstandings’, European Competition Journal, 17:1, pp. 118–133.

  • Ralston, H., Leslie, W., O’Reilly, E., Masters, R. and Heinen, V. (2021), Choosing the right filter: Market definition in two-sided markets, Competition Law & Policy Debate, July, pp. 67–73.

Qualifications

  • MSc Economics, University College London, UK

  • BA Economics, University of Cambridge, UK

Latest Insights:  Helen Ralston-Smith

10 minute read
Most-favoured-nation clauses (MFNs) remain a hot topic in competition policy. The direction of travel has generally been one-way, with the UK and European vertical block exemption regimes designating wide MFNs…
10 minute read
The European Commission is consulting on updating its 1997 Market Definition Notice, which provides important guidance on identifying relevant markets in competition cases. One hotly debated topic is defining markets…
10 minute read
On 2 June, the European Commission launched consultations on proposals for a New Competition Tool (NCT) and its Digital Services Act package. As an NCT based on a market structure…
6 minute read
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on businesses across the world. Many have turned to their insurance providers to claim compensation under their business interruption (BI) insurance. However,…

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