The UK’s competition watchdog has said it is planning a number of antitrust investigations into the practices of tech giants throughout the year.

Chief executive of the Competition and Markers Authority (CMA) Andrea Coscelli, told The Financial Times that the organisation would launch a series of probes into BigTech companies including Facebook, Google, and Amazon over the coming months.

The CMA will be given more powers over technology companies with the launch of a new digital market unit later this year, which will include the ability to fine businesses millions of pounds.

“Until we have these new legal powers, if we want to achieve impact for consumers in the UK, we need to use our current [tools],” Coscelli told the newspaper. “There are quite a few cases against the digital platforms in Brussels today and a number of these cases include the UK market.”

The chief exec also said that the authority aims not just to replicate probes already taking place elsewhere, but to look in areas not year investigated.

“We are actively scanning the players, the complaints we have received, the cases that others are doing, what could be done in parallel with others, where are the gaps in the work the European Commission is doing,” he said. He “We certainly expect to open more cases during the course of this year.”

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