Competition, International Best Practices and Antitrust Compliance Guidelines, 05/10/18, Competition Authority
The guidelines in line with international best practices
Value of competition as an integral part of corporate culture
The definitive adoption of the Guidelines was preceded by a phase of public consultation.
On 25 September 2018, the Authority adopted the Antitrust Compliance Guidelines, aimed at providing businesses with an orientation regarding:
i) definition of the content of the compliance program;
ii) the request for evaluation of the program for the purpose of recognizing any mitigating factor; is
iii) the criteria that the Authority intends to adopt in the assessment for the recognition of the mitigating factor.
In particular, the Guidelines define, in line with international best practices, the typical components of an antitrust compliance program, including recognition of the value of competition as an integral part of corporate culture, identification and assessment of specific antitrust risk of the company, the definition of management processes suitable to reduce this risk, the provision of a system of incentives and the conduct of training and auditing activities.
The company involved in an investigation procedure that intends to benefit from the mitigation must submit to the Authority’s offices a specific request, accompanied by an illustrative report, explaining the reasons why the program can be considered adequate and the concrete initiatives put in place for effective and effective application / implementation of the program.
As regards the possible sanctioning benefits, for the compliance programs adopted before the start of the investigation, the possibility of a reduction up to:
15%, in the case of adequate programs that have worked effectively allowing the timely discovery and interruption of the offense before the start.
If the institute of clemency is applicable, this mitigation can only be recognized if a request for leniency is presented;
10%, in case of programs that are not clearly inadequate, on condition that the company adequately integrates the program and begins to implement it after the start of the procedure (and within six months from the opening of the investigation);
5%, in case of manifestly inadequate programs, where the company presents substantial changes to the program after the start of the procedure (and within six months from the opening of the investigation).
For the programs adopted from scratch after the start of the investigation, the possibility of benefiting from a reduction of up to 5% of the fine is envisaged.
The definitive adoption of the Guidelines was preceded by a phase of public consultation, during which the interested parties were able to formulate their observations.
05 October 2018
Source of the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority
