The purpose of the draft Regulation for the Leniency Programme Implementation is to specify the stages, procedure, and requirements to be fulfilled by a human or legal person that has incurred or is incurring in a conduct listed in Section 2 of Act 27.442 for the Defence of Competition (LDC, for its acronym in Spanish), to benefit from the exemption or reduction of the corresponding sanction, as provided for in Section 60 and 61 of the LDC and its Regulatory Decree No. 480/2018.

The anti-competitive conducts stated in Section 2 of the LDC are those typified as absolutely restrictive of competition and are limited to concerted practices that include agreements between competitors to fix prices, share the market, restrict supply, and/or fix bids in tenders or auctions.

The draft regulation allows for enquiries about the availability of markers, establishes the form and content of the marker application, and the benefit claim. It also regulates the duty of confidentiality in the procedure and the duty of cooperation of applicants.

The Regulation for Leniency Programme Implementation is expected to allow for greater participation in the programme and become a relevant instrument for the CNDC in the detection, investigation, and sanction of cartels.

The proposed regulation is available at the following links in English and Spanish.

Individuals and entities interested in submitting comments may e-mail cndc@produccion.gob.ar or directly at the CNDC headquarters, located at Avda. Presidente Julio A. Roca 694, CP 1067, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The document will be available for comments until April 22nd.

We welcome all contributions to strengthen competition policy and effectively implement the new regulation.