Partner Ilkka Leppihalme heads the Competition & Public Procurement practice of Dittmar & Indrenius. He has more than a quarter of a century of experience in competition law – including also in Brussels. Leppihalme has been involved in various landmark competition cases, including the largest cartel cases in Finland and many ‘first-ever’ situations. He possesses significant experience in both national and multijurisdictional merger control procedures across a wide range of industries as well as in foreign direct investment (FDI) control. He has represented clients in numerous significant competition law related damages cases.

Leppihalme has been a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network – a network of more than 130 competition authorities – since 2010. He was one of the few members of the Competition Law Expert Group of the Finnish Bar Association in 2010-2024. He is a regular chairman and speaker at competition law conferences and seminars.

Leppihalme is listed as a leading competition law expert in all major international ranking publications, including e.g. being again ranked in ‘Band 1’ by Chambers Europe in 2026, being again ranked in ‘Hall of Fame’ by The Legal 500 EMEA in 2026, being again the only Finnish competition lawyer ranked as ‘Global Elite Thought Leader’ in Lexology Index – Competition 2026, and being again the only Finnish competition lawyer Lexology Index awarded the ‘Client Choice’ award in the Lexology Index Client Choice 2026 report.

Short biography – Maria Velentza, European Commission, Director Financial Services, Directorate General for Competition

A lawyer by training, Maria joined the EU Commission in the early 90s; since then she has worked in many policy fields, mainly in financial services and banking, but also freedom of establishment and regulated professions, pharmaceuticals and enterprise policy. Maria was responsible for a number of years for Capital markets, then for Financial Stability issues, including bank recovery and resolution, within the Directorate General of Internal Market and Financial Services of the EU Commission

In September 2011 Maria was one of the first members of the “Task Force for Greece” of the European Commission – which accompanied the Greek adjustment program. Maria was responsible for three thematic areas: financial institutions and access to finance, broader business environment and competitiveness issues, justice and migration.

In 2015, she became responsible for macroprudential policy and systemic risk questions within the Financial Services Directorate General of the EU Commission.

In November 2016, she was appointed Director in the Directorate General of Competition for Financial Institutions where she covered antitrust, state aid and merger cases for the entire spectrum of financial services and institutions. She remained as a Director in this directorate until April 2021, whereas, in parallel, she took over the General Affairs Directorate responsible for strategic coordination and support for DG Competition.

Since June 2024 Maria is back as Director in the Director General of Competition for Financial Institutions.

Marc is a partner and Chair of Clifford Chance’s Global Antitrust Group, bringing over 25 years of experience in EU and German competition law. He is based in Duesseldorf and Brussels. He has particular expertise in cartel investigations, abuse of dominance proceedings, and merger control cases. His clients include leading international companies in the industrial and healthcare sectors, whom he supports in navigating sensitive regulatory investigations and developing robust defence strategies. He serves on the board of the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht, the association of German-speaking antitrust practitioners.

John Ratliff has some 40years of experience as an advocate and adviser on all aspects of EU Competition law.

He retired from WilmerHale, a leading US law firm, at the end of 2022, having joined in 1999.  Before that, he was with Stanbrook and Hooper, a specialist competition and trade law firm in Brussels.  He now works in independent practice as an avocat in Brussels, and as a Barrister with Henderson Chambers in London.

John has assisted with many types of European Commission proceedings (including merger control cases with remedies, alleged infringement cases, cartel defences, complaints and third party actions in merger cases seeking remedies).

He has advised on a wide range of transactions and compliance issues, including JVs, cooperation, Art. 102 TFEU and sustainability issues.

He also advises on REMIT energy market manipulation issues.

John has studied or worked in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

He has had the pleasure of participating in the Helsinki Competition Conference since 2009.

Asianajaja Leena Lindberg on Krogeruksen kilpailuoikeusryhmän toinen vetäjä. Kilpailuviraston johtoryhmään kuulunut Leena on perehtynyt perusteellisesti ja laaja-alaisesti kilpailuoikeudelliseen sääntelyyn ja prosesseihin toimiessaan 14 vuoden aikana Kilpailuvirastossa eri tehtävissä. Hänen vastuullaan oli muun muassa asfalttikartellitutkinta. Tutkimuspäällikkönä Leena vastasi myös useita vuosia yrityskauppojen arvioinnista sekä useiden yrityskauppa- ja kilpailunrajoitustapausten käsittelystä markkinaoikeudessa ja korkeimmassa hallinto-oikeudessa. Hän työskenteli vuoden Euroopan komissiossa kilpailun pääosastolla.

Virtanen on toiminut yli 20 vuoden ajan KKV:n palveluksessa eri tehtävissä ja vuodesta 2012 lähtien Virtanen on toiminut johtajana ja yksikön päällikkönä. Nykyisin Virtasen vastuulle kuuluu erityisesti kartellien ja muiden kilpailunrajoitustapausten tutkinta.

Thomas Janssens is a partner in Freshfields’ antitrust and regulatory group, which he led globally for six years. He covers transactional and conduct matters as well as related litigation for clients from a whole range of sectors. In the past year, his work has involved mergers (e.g. HPE/Juniper), cartels (e.g. Norwegian Salmon and End-of-Life Vehicles), dominance cases (e.g. in the pharma sector), DMA (e.g. Meta’s appeal against its designation as a gatekeeper) and state aid (e.g. STMicroelectronics).

Thomas is a regular commentator on global developments and an active member of the International Bar Association (IBA), where he recently concluded a three-year Co-Chairmanship of the Antitrust Section. He has been invited by competition authorities around the world to contribute insights on global enforcement policies, and is Global Contributing Editor of Lexology’s flagship Panoramic Merger Control guide.

He was educated at the University of Leuven and Columbia Law School.

Lassen tehtävänkuva kattaa ulkomaisten sijoitusten seurantaan, huoltovarmuuteen ja taloudelliseen turvallisuuteen liittyviä kokonaisuuksia. Lassella on päävastuu ulkomaisten yritysostojen seurantamenettelyn (laki ulkomaalaisten yritysostojen seurannasta) mukaisten tapausten käsittelystä ministeriössä. Lasse toimii myös tapauksia arvioivan viranomaisverkoston varapuheenjohtajana. Aikaisemmin Lasse on työskennellyt ministeriössä EU:n sisämarkkinapolitiikan valmistelun ja yhteensovittamisen tehtävissä sekä ulkoministeriössä kauppapolitiikkaan liittyvissä tehtävissä.