New
Regulation on Active Cooperation For Detecting Cartels Has Been Published
The new regulation which determines the procedures and principles regarding immunity from or reduction for the fines specified in Article 16 of the Law on the Protection of Competition (“Law”) to be imposed on enterprises and enterprise managers and employees who actively cooperate with the Competition Authority for the purpose of detecting cartels which are prohibited under Article 4 of the Law is now published.
The issues and conditions that can be benefitted by enterprises and associations of enterprises are as follows:
| Immunity From Pecuniary Fines | |
| Who can benefit | Conditions |
| The first applicant (and its managers and employees) who submits the information and documents specified in the regulation and fulfills the conditions, independently of other cartel parties and cartel facilitators before the Competition Board (“Board”) decides to conduct a preliminary investigation | • The products affected by the cartel, the geographical scope of the cartel, the duration of the cartel, the names and/or trade names and addresses of the undertakings that are parties to the cartel and, if any, the cartel facilitators, the dates, places, participants of the cartel-related meetings, the communication tools used and other information and documents related to the cartel are provided to the Board.
• Information and documents related to the cartel should not beconcealed. • Involvement to the cartel should be ended. • Application should be kept confidential. • Active cooperation should continue until the final decision. • Written information of employees and managers is sought (if necessary). • If additional information and documents are obtained by the applicant, this information and documents should be submitted to the Board immediately and in any case, before the end of the second written defense period. • No previous application should have been made for the immunity of the managers and employees. |
| The first applicant (and its managers and employees) who submits the information and documents specified in the regulation and fulfills the conditions independently of other cartel parties and cartel facilitators in the absence of evidence to establish that Article 4 of the Law has been violated, during the time period starting from the time the Board decides to conduct a preliminary investigation until the notification of the investigation report. | · In addition to the fulfillment of the conditions above, the application explained above should not have been made. |
| Reduction of the Pecuniary Fine | |
| Who can benefit | Conditions and Discount Ratios |
| Applicants who cannot claim immunity and who submits the information and documents specified in the regulation and fulfill the conditions, independently of other cartel parties and cartel facilitators, within 3 months following the notification of the investigation, during the time period starting from the Board’s decision to conduct a preliminary investigation, and before the notification of the investigation report. | · In addition to the above conditions, the information and documents submitted by the applicant needs to strengthen the power of the Board to prove the cartel, taking into consideration the other evidence held by the Board (added value)
· First applicant: A reduction of between %25 and %50. The managers and employees of the applicant actively cooperating may benefit from a discount of at least 25% or they can be deemed immune from the fines. · Second applicant: A reduction of between %20 and %40. The managers and employees of the applicant actively cooperating may benefit from a discount of at least 20% or they can be deemed immune from the fines. · Other applicants: A reduction of between %15 and %30. The managers and employees of the applicant actively cooperating may benefit from a discount of at least 15% or they can be deemed immune from the fines.
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In addition to the above, the regulation also regulates the conditions for immunity for managers and employees and such persons can also apply, independent of the enterprises. Please feel free to contact us for further information, regarding the differences between the previous regulation and the new regulation and the application conditions.
