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Cartels Enforcement, Appeals & Damages Actions 2017 Fifth Edition Cartels Enforcement, Appeals & Damages Actions 2017 Fifth Edition Contributing Editors: Nigel Parr & Euan Burrows GLOBAL LEGAL INSIGHTS – CARTELS 2017, FIFTH EDITION Contributing Editors Nigel Parr & Euan Burrows, Ashurst LLP Production Editor Andrew Schofi eld Senior Editor Rachel Williams Group Consulting Editor Alan Falach Group Publisher Richard Firth We are extremely grateful for all contributions to this edition. Special thanks are reserved for Nigel Parr and Euan Burrows for all of their assistance. Published by Global Legal Group Ltd. 59 Tanner Street, London SE1 3PL, United Kingdom Tel: +44 207 367 0720 / URL: www.glgroup.co.uk Copyright © 2017 Global Legal Group Ltd. All rights reserved No photocopying ISBN 978-1-911367-34-5 ISSN 2050-7593 This publication is for general information purposes only. It does not purport to provide comprehensive full legal or other advice. Global Legal Group Ltd. and the contributors accept no responsibility for losses that may arise from reliance upon information contained in this publication. This publication is intended to give an indication of legal issues upon which you may need advice. Full legal advice should be taken from a qualifi ed professional when dealing with specifi c situations. The information contained herein is accurate as of the date of publication. Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY January 2017 CONTENTS Preface Nigel Parr & Euan Burrows, Ashurst LLP Australia Sharon Henrick, Wayne Leach & Peta Stevenson, King & Wood Mallesons 1 Belgium Hendrik Viaene & Ine Letten, Stibbe 17 Brazil Ricardo Inglez de Souza, Inglez, Werneck, Ramos, Cury e Françolin Advogados 28 Canada Randall J. Hofl ey, Joshua A. Krane & Chris Dickinson, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP 40 China Zhan Hao, AnJie Law Firm 57 Colombia Alfonso Miranda Londoño, Andrés Jaramillo Hoyos & Daniel Beltrán Castiblanco, Esguerra Asesores Jurídicos S.A. 72 Denmark Olaf Koktvedgaard, Søren Zinck & Frederik André Bork, Bruun & Hjejle 78 European Union Euan Burrows, Irene Antypas & Laura Carter, Ashurst LLP 86 Finland Ilkka Aalto-Setälä & Eeva-Riitta Siivonen, Borenius Attorneys Ltd 104 France Bastien Thomas & Cécile Mennétrier, Racine 114 Germany Dr Ulrich Schnelle & Dr Volker Soyez, Haver & Mailänder Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaft mbB 126 India G.R. Bhatia, Abdullah Hussain & Kanika Chaudhary Nayar, Luthra & Luthra Law Offi ces 139 Indonesia Anang Triyono, Rinjani Indah Lestari & Ben Clanchy, Makarim & Taira S. 149 Israel Hilla Peleg, Moran Aumann & Joey Lightstone, Agmon & Co. Rosenberg Hacohen & Co. 162 Italy Enrico Adriano Raffaelli & Elisa Teti, Rucellai&Raffaelli 171 Japan Catherine E. Palmer, Daiske Yoshida & Hiroki Kobayashi, Latham & Watkins 182 Malaysia Raymond Yong & Penny Wong, Rahmat Lim & Partners 193 Malta Richard Camilleri & Annalies Azzopardi, Mamo TCV Advocates 202 Portugal Nuno Ruiz & Pedro Saraiva, Vieira de Almeida & Associados 213 Romania Silviu Stoica & Ramona Iancu, Popovici Nițu Stoica & Asociații 223 Russia Anastasia Astashkevich, “Astashkevich and partners” Attorneys at Law 235 Serbia Raško Radovanović, Anja Tasić & Srđan Janković, Petrikić & Partneri AOD in cooperation with CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz 242 Singapore Daren Shiau & Elsa Chen, Allen & Gledhill LLP 253 Spain Antonio Guerra Fernández, Patricia Vidal Martínez & Tomás Arranz Fernández-Bravo, Uría Menéndez 266 Sweden Peter Forsberg, Xandra Carlsson & Haris Catovic, Hannes Snellman Attorneys Ltd 278 Switzerland Mario Strebel, Christophe Pétermann & Renato Bucher, Meyerlustenberger Lachenal 289 Taiwan Stephen Wu, Rebecca Hsiao & Wei-Han Wu, Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law 311 Turkey Gönenç Gürkaynak & Ayşe Güner, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law 323 United Kingdom Giles Warrington & Tim Riisager, Pinsent Masons LLP 336 USA Mark Rosman & Jeff VanHooreweghe, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati P.C. 350 PREFACE e are delighted to present the fi fth edition of Global Legal Insights – Cartels. This edition covers the most Wsignifi cant developments in 30 jurisdictions around the world and, as before, is designed to provide in-house counsel, government agencies and private practice lawyers with a practical insight into cartel enforcement policy and procedure, including leniency/amnesty regimes, administrative settlement, sanctions and appeals. The aim of this edition, as with other volumes in the Global Legal Insights series, is to collect the views and opinions of a group of leading competition law practitioners from around the world in a single volume. Authors continue to be encouraged to focus their chapter on what they consider to be the most important practice points and recent developments in their jurisdictions, with a free rein to determine the content of their chapter. By giving the authors the opportunity both to select the legal and policy issues which they wish to discuss, and to offer insights into the practical operation of their national regimes, this book aims to look beyond the anti-cartel provisions and enforcement procedures which apply in the various jurisdictions. It also facilitates an up-to-date comparative analysis of the approaches currently being taken by competition agencies around the world to some of the diffi cult issues that can arise in practice, which we hope will prove to be helpful when considering enforcement initiatives and developments in your own jurisdiction. Nigel Parr and Euan Burrows, Ashurst LLP Australia Sharon Henrick, Wayne Leach & Peta Stevenson King & Wood Mallesons Overview of the law and enforcement regime relating to cartels In Australia, there are parallel civil and criminal prohibitions against cartel conduct, which are contained in Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA). The Australian Federal Government is proposing to amend the prohibitions and has released exposure draft legislation for consultation. A preliminary bill to amend Australia’s misuse of market power laws has already been placed before the Australian Parliament. A further bill, which will contain any amendments to Australia’s cartel laws, is expected to be placed before the Australian Parliament in the course of 2017. Division 1A of Part IV of the CCA prohibits the making of, or giving effect to, a contract, arrangement or understanding that contains a cartel provision. A cartel provision is defi ned as a provision of a contract, arrangement or understanding between actual or potential competitors that has either: • the purpose or likely effect of fi xing, controlling or maintaining a price or component of a price; or • the purpose of: • preventing, restricting or limiting production, capacity or supply; • allocating customers, suppliers or territories; or • bid rigging. The prohibition against cartel conduct is a per se prohibition, i.e. it is prohibited outright without any competition test having to be satisfi ed. The criminal and civil prohibitions are identical except for the standard of proof required. The criminal offence requires both: • an intention to make or give effect to the contract, arrangement or understanding; and • the knowledge or belief that the contract, arrangement or understanding contains a cartel provision. Although a limitation period of six years applies to civil contraventions, there is no limitation period for criminal contraventions. The CCA also contains: • a general civil prohibition on contracts, arrangements or understandings that contain provisions with a purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition; and • civil prohibitions against price signalling, which currently only apply to the banking sector (although these prohibitions may be extended to other sectors in the future). These prohibitions provide that: GLI - Cartels 2017, Fifth Edition 1 www.globallegalinsights.com © Published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London King & Wood Mallesons Australia • a corporation must not make private disclosures to competitors of pricing information if the disclosure is not in the ordinary course of business; and • a corporation must not make disclosures about prices, capacity or strategy for the purpose of substantially lessening competition. As part of the exposure draft legislation referred to above, the Australian Federal Government is proposing to repeal the prohibition on price signalling and to enact a new civil prohibition on concerted practices, which will apply to conduct with the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the body responsible for investigating cartel conduct and managing the immunity application process. The ACCC can initiate civil proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia for civil pecuniary penalties and other orders for a breach of the civil prohibitions on cartel conduct. The ACCC can also refer serious cartel conduct to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) for consideration for criminal prosecution. The CDPP is responsible for prosecuting criminal cartel offences and can initiate criminal proceedings in the Federal Court for breach of the criminal cartel prohibitions. Ultimately, it is the Federal Court of Australia that determines whether there has been a breach of the civil or criminal prohibitions on cartel conduct and makes the appropriate penalty orders. Cartel conduct may also give rise to claims for civil damages. Class actions have featured signifi cantly in the private enforcement of cartel conduct. Overview of investigative powers in Australia Australia has an immunity and
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