Johan Ysewyn is widely recognised as one of Europe’s leading competition lawyers. As co-Chair of Covington’s Global Competition/Antitrust Practice, Johan brings over three decades of experience advising global corporates and financial institutions on their most complex and high-stakes competition and regulatory matters.
Clients turn to Johan for clear, strategic guidance on merger control, cartel and monopolisation investigations, and other antitrust enforcement actions. His approach is pragmatic and solution-driven, combining deep legal insight with a commercial understanding of his clients’ business.
Leading directories consistently highlight Johan’s exceptional skill and client service: Chambers Global describes him as “an exceptional lawyer who is solution-oriented, has a remarkable ability to rapidly understand our business and has excellent reactivity.” Who’s Who Legal praises his “energy and insight into cartel proceedings,” while Legal 500 calls him “one of the best European competition lawyers” with “a unique understanding of the EC and a very helpful network of connections across Brussels.”
Johan represents clients before competition authorities and courts around the world, leveraging his in-depth knowledge of regulatory processes and strong working relationships with key decision-makers, particularly within the European Commission’s DG COMP, who designated him as one of their Non-Governmental Advisors to the International Competition Network. His advisory practice spans the evolving intersections of competition law with ESG, digital markets, and strategic compliance. His experience covers a wide range of sectors, including telecommunications, technology, media, financial services, healthcare, consumer goods, retail, energy, and transport.
Johan has extensive experience in global merger control, having advised on numerous complex, cross-border transactions requiring coordination across multiple jurisdictions. His recent merger work includes representing Discovery in its landmark acquisition of Warner Bros. and advising Illumina on its acquisition of Grail—both recognised as award-winning deals in the competition community. Johan’s merger practice spans a wide range of sectors, from media and technology to healthcare and energy, and he is known for navigating the most challenging regulatory reviews with strategic foresight and precision.
Renowned for his expertise in global cartel enforcement, Johan has represented immunity applicants and defendants in major cases involving industries such as financial services, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and energy. He also advised the European Payments Council in the first European Commission investigation into standardisation agreements in the e-payments sector. A recognised thought leader, Johan co-authors the European Cartel Digest and lectures on cartel law and economics at the Brussels School of Competition.
In addition, Johan is one of Europe’s foremost practitioners in EU State aid law, advising both governments and beneficiaries. His experience includes landmark cases involving leading banks and airlines such as Fortis, KBC, Dexia, Arco, Citadele, airBaltic, and Riga Airport.
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