Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Leniency definition

What does Leniency mean? In competition law practice, leniency describes a programme under which a business (and, in some regimes, individuals) that self‑reports a secret cartel—such as price‑fixing, market‑sharing or bid‑rigging—and provides full, continuous cooperation may obtain immunity or a reduction in penalties. In the UK, leniency is implemented through the Competition and Markets Authority’s policy (not a statutory definition). Undertakings may receive immunity or discounted fines for infringements of the Competition Act 1998. Individuals involved in the cartel offence under the Enterprise Act 2002 may receive “no‑action” letters (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) or immunity undertakings from the Lord Advocate (Scotland). Key...

EU General Court (T-433/16) upholds Commission's steel abrasives cartel findings against Pometon in hybrid settlement; rights of defence and presumption claims dismissed; fine reduced for inadequate reasoning

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Practice notes

CASE HUB NOTE—appeal lodged before the Court of Justice in Case C- 440/19 P ARCHIVED —this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the judgment of 28 March 2019; it is no longer maintained. See further: timeline and commentary.

Case facts

Outline: Appeal before the General Court against the European Commission’s decision that found an infringement and levied fines on, amongst others, Pometon, for taking part in the steel abrasives cartel across the EEA, as set out by the authority.

Outcome

On 28 March 2019, the General Court delivered its ruling in its judgment, dismissing Pometon’s broader challenge by concluding the Commission had not violated Pometon’s rights of defence or the presumption of innocence, and thus rejected those grounds of appeal. Yet it partially upheld the appeal by cutting the fine from €6.2m to €3.9m.

Parties

The parties were as follows:

Applicant: Pometon SpA (Pometon)
Defendant: European Commission

Pometon is an Italian company that specialises in the treatment of metals.

Background

The Commission’s probe began in June 2010 with dawn raids being carried out. It was triggered by a leniency submission from one producer, Ervin, which brought the existence of the cartel to the Commission’s attention...

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