Cartel offence meaning

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The creation of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in 2013 The establishment of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in 2013 coincided with an overhaul of a component of the criminal cartel offence that prosecutors had to prove to convict directors and officers. When the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (ERRA 2013) commenced on 1 April 2014, the dishonesty element of the cartel offence was scrapped, marking a radical change to what prosecutors had previously been required to establish. Under the revised regime, an individual commits the offence by agreeing, with one or more persons, that two or more undertakings will take part in specified prohibited cartel arrangements (price-fixing, market-sharing, bid-rigging, or limiting output), regardless of dishonesty. Any such arrangements must have occurred in the UK to be caught. As explained further below, this shift is partly offset by new exceptions, covering notification of customers, publication of arrangements, and compliance with a legal requirement, as well as defences, including that the accused did not intend to conceal...

UK competition law UK competition law polices anti-competitive behaviour, oversees merger control and promotes competitive markets. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal UK competition authority. Created by the merger of the OFT and the Competition Commission, it took over enforcing competition law in the UK on 1 April 2014. The CMA, together with other concurrent competition authorities, has powers to: enforce prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements and on abuse of a dominant position (see further, Chapter I prohibition and Chapter II prohibition) bring criminal prosecutions against individuals responsible for implementing hardcore cartels (see further, The UK criminal cartel offence) seek director disqualification orders against directors involved in competition law breaches (see further, Director disqualification) investigate UK mergers and block them or require remedies where they would result in a substantial lessening of competition (see further, UK merger control—overview) open investigations into industries to ensure markets remain competitive and impose remedies where there is an adverse effect on competition (see...

Section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (EnA 2002) creates a criminal offence where an individual agrees with one or more others that two or more undertakings will participate in prohibited cartel arrangements. This spans price fixing, market sharing, restricting production or supply, and bid rigging. The offence bites on agreements both to create or implement such arrangements, and to cause them to be created or implemented. It is committed irrespective of whether the undertakings put the agreement into effect by the undertakings. There are a number of defences available. See further, The UK criminal cartel offence. Both the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have the power to investigate individuals suspected of involvement in the criminal cartel offence under EnA 2002, s 188. Under EnA 2002, s 190, proceedings for the criminal cartel offence may only be instituted or brought as follows: by the Director of the SFO (the Director), or by or with the consent of the CMA...