Cartel conduct or anti-competitive agreements in general remain in focus as enforcement priorities for competition regulators around the world. In this regard, leniency applications are becoming more common for businesses involved in cartel activities. The rationale for submitting a leniency application is because leniency programmes run by competition regulators offer potential immunity against financial penalties and even criminal liability in certain jurisdictions for cartel behaviour and/or other competition violations.
However, businesses should not treat leniency applications as a default solution without carefully weighing its pros and cons. Some critical questions which are often left unanswered by leniency applicants include whether there is truly a cartel in place, the chances of securing immunity as the first leniency applicant (or one of the first leniency applicants), the indirect costs of exposing a cartel in favour for leniency, and the alternative options to leniency.
In this Update, we highlight some hidden pitfalls and identify specific dos and don’ts that businesses must keep in mind before proceeding with leniency applications.
For more information, click here to read the full Legal Update.
