Yes indeed. Here we are once more. I hope you're very well, especially if you're in the

Northern Hemisphere and heading into your summer holidays. I hope you get all of the sunshine that you need

after a difficult winter. My name is James Panicki. This is Emlex's weekly podcast, covering the

biggest and most recent stories in regulatory affairs. It's great to have your company again today.

Now, as always, we have a lot to get through with the assistance of our team of reporters

around the globe.

In just over 10 minutes' time, we'll be crossing to Brazil to talk about what some key

appointments to the country's competition regulator mean for both mergers and companies

facing penalties for anti-competitive behaviour.

First up, though, what to many look like the deal of the year has just fizzed out.

Aon's $30 billion US dollar merger with Willis Towers-Watson has collapsed with everything that that entails,

including a $1 billion termination fee that Aon will have to pay to WTW.

Now, we cared particularly about this because it was the first significant deal to face regulatory pushback

since the Biden administration took power.

And it was the first major development since President Joe Biden made his recent controversial remarks about the need

to rethink the approach to antitrust. Yet as our correspondent Curtis Eichelberger has argued

very convincingly, the Department of Justice's success in opposing the merger is a sign of

continuity with regulation in previous administrations rather than evidence of a new

approach. Curtis joins me now from his home in Philadelphia. So Curtis, firstly, remind us what the

deal was all about. What do the companies in question do and what was the logic behind the deal?

Well, Aon and Willis Towers-Watson are the second and third largest insurance brokerages

in the world.

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