Bonus scheme

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A bonus scheme is an instrument used by an antitrust authority to combat cartels .

Since cartels are not only detrimental to the economy , but also to society, the cartel authorities have increasingly made it their task to combat so-called hardcore cartels (e.g. price cartels). In principle, violations of antitrust law are punishable by high fines . Since anti-trust agreements are concealed between cartelists, it is difficult for cartel authorities to obtain evidence against cartels. Because of this, many antitrust authorities offer companies wanting to get out of a cartel fines or reductions in their fine that they would otherwise have expected.

history

A leniency program ( Engl. : Leniency Policy ) in antitrust procedures was first introduced worldwide by the US Department of Justice 1978th This was intended to create a high incentive for companies to uncover existing cartels by allowing them to go unpunished ( Amnesty Program of October 4, 1978). However , due to the lack of predictability of impunity or criminal immunity and the necessary transparency, this Amnesty Progam met with little success (around one application per year) until the program was fundamentally revised in 1993. The Corporate Leniency Policy was introduced in 1993 and the Leniency Policy for Individuals in 1994 , which became a great success due to the changed framework conditions. As a result, an Amnesty Plus program and a Penalty Plus Program to tighten punishments were introduced. In 1996 the positive experiences in the USA were taken up by the European Commission and published in a communication from the Commission on the waiver and reduction of fines in cartel cases, which was revised in 2002 and 2006.

Leniency Notice - Bonus Scheme

A company that is or was involved in a cartel files an application for leniency (= bonus scheme) and provides the cartel authority with evidence, such as B. Transcripts of meetings or emails with pertinent information sent to competitors. Naturally, the company does not only burden its competitors, but also itself. It undertakes to cooperate with the cartel authority and to answer all questions from the cartel authority in connection with the complete discovery of the cartel in a timely manner.

Many antitrust authorities around the world are now using bonus programs to take effective action against cartels.

The essential elements of a bonus program are:

  • high sanctions for violations of antitrust law,
  • Companies must assume a high clearance rate from the antitrust authorities,
  • Transparency and legal security of the bonus program.

Although the European Competition Authorities (ECA) have agreed on non-binding guidelines for bonus programs, a large number of these programs still exist. Due to the large number of bonus programs, it can lead to problems between the programs of the different authorities if a company wants to get out of a Europe-wide or global cartel, as it has to observe all the cumulative requirements of the various leniency programs. There is also no uniform bonus program in the area of ​​the European Competition Network (ECN).

Web links

  • Announcement No. 9/2006 , "on the waiver and reduction of fines in cartel matters - bonus regulation", bonus regulation of the Federal Cartel Office, March 7, 2006 (PDF file; 68 kB)
  • Exemption notice 2002 / C 45/03 , "Communication from the Commission on the Remission and Reduction of Fines in Antitrust Matters", Leniency Notice from the European Commission, February 19, 2002

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scott D Hammond and Belinda A Barnett: Frequently asked questions about the antitrust division's leniency program and model Leniency letters , November 17, 2009, last amended January 26, 2017, last accessed November 5, 2018.
  2. ↑ For an overview and links to the legal texts see: Leniency Program , US Department of Justice.
  3. ↑ Katharina Maria Kopf: Sanctions and Leniency Notice in Antitrust Law - A European-American Comparison , Journal for European Law, International Private Law and Comparative Law (ZfRV), April 2017, p. 53.
  4. ↑ Communication from the Commission on the remission and reduction of fines in cartel cases, OJ C 1996/207, p. 4.
  5. ↑ Communication from the Commission on the remission and reduction of fines in cartel cases, OJ C 2002/45, p. 3.
  6. ↑ Communication from the Commission on the remission and reduction of fines in cartel cases, OJ 2006 C 298, p. 17
  7. ↑ Summary see also: Isabella Hartung: The new communication from the European Commission on the waiver and reduction of fines in cartel cases , Wirtschaftsrechtliche Blätter 21, pp. 63 ff, Vienna 2007.