Tag Archive for: Competition Commission

Money with handcuffs

Competition law compliance programme: mitigating factor or wasted expenditure?

The recent amendments to South African competition legislation lead to a sharp increase in the number of organisations requesting training for their employees on competition law. We are often asked if the investment in a competition law compliance programme is worth the time and money spent.

Sadly, in our experience, most organisations implement a competition law compliance programme for one of two reasons: 1) they have committed to doing so as part of a consent order signed with the authorities after contravening the law; and/or 2) they operate in a sector that has been identified by the authorities as one to “monitor” and their lawyers have recommended that they take precautionary steps. Few organisations seem to view the pro-active implementation of a competition law compliance programme as a non-negotiable part of good governance.

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Competition Law

Competition Commission releases Draft Guidelines on Information Exchange between Competitors

Information is integral to making informed decisions.  When conducting business, obtaining information on the market in which one competes is important to the success of a well-functioning firm.  However, when competitors share information a line can be crossed and therefore caution is required due to the risk that it may result in anti-competitive outcomes.

In line with the approach followed by other international jurisdictions, the Competition Commission has recently released draft Guidelines for comment relating to information sharing between competitors. Read more

risk street sign

What is collusion?

Any interaction between competitors, even if completely above board, will raise suspicion from competition authorities. Authorities are concerned that competitor interaction may lead to collusion that will be to the detriment of consumers.

Collusion refers to anti-competitive agreements or understandings amongst competitors to coordinate their conduct – for example agreeing to all sell at the same price or not to sell to certain customers. Instead of competing, competitors form a so-called cartel and behave like a single powerful supplier and this is almost always to the detriment of the consumer. Read more