NMa puts its leniency programme in the picture

From today the NMa has made a special film available on its leniency programme, an important weapon in the fight against cartels. The aim of the film is to raise awareness of the leniency programme, both among professionals, entrepreneurs and the public at large. Cartel participants can have the fine entirely remitted or be granted a reduction in fines , if they confess their involvement to the NMa in a timely manner and provide information to help prosecute the cartel. 'For violators it is a sometimes difficult, but nevertheless wise decision to withdraw from a cartel in this way. However, time is money. In practice we see that the race for leniency is sometimes won by a narrow victory', says Pieter Kalbfleisch, chairman of the Board at NMa.

Leniency programmes contribute significantly to tracking down and terminating cartels worldwide. Since October last year the NMa's powers have been expanded and not only companies, but also individuals may be imposed personal fines for participation in a cartel. The leniency programme was expanded to include possible applications by such individuals and will consequently have a more destabilising effect on cartels than before. Over the past few months there has indeed been an increase in the number of applications for leniency. The NMa feels it is important to be as transparent as possible in the Netherlands about its leniency programme and uses a number of means to achieve this. The film (Leniency in cartel cases: How much longer are you going to wait? – soon to be released with English subtitles) illustrates how leniency can work in practice and, accompanied by a special brochure, was presented today for the first time at the annual Market and Competition conference. Professionals and intermediaries, who deal with competition issues, such as lawyers, corporate lawyers and sector organisations, can use these tools in advising undertakings or individuals.

Race against the clock
A leniency programme is an effective instrument. Only the first applicant for leniency is eligible for complete remission of fines (immunity). As a result, a sort of 'leniency race' is unleashed: if others beat you to it, you end up in a lower leniency category or you might even miss out on leniency altogether. Moreover, as a result of the new powers and the new Leniency Guidelines from the NMa, there are more potential participants per cartel in this race: in addition to companies, now individuals, too, are eligible for first place in the queue. The reason behind the success of the leniency scheme is that the NMa pursues a 'zero tolerance policy' of maximum deterrence against cartels. The chance of getting caught for forming a cartel is increasing and participants in cartels run a serious risk of exposure to fines and damage to reputation.

Cartels inflict serious harm on consumers
A cartel agreement is an agreement between companies which prevents, restricts or distorts competition and is a very serious violation of the Competition Act. This is the case for instance, if competitors make agreements among themselves on prices or on sharing the market. The conduct is particularly damaging for the Dutch economy. Not only does it impede other undertakings from entering a (new) market, fair competition is also important since it stimulates organisations to put more effort into developing more and better products and services. Competition also creates significant benefits for consumers: it leads to more choice, higher quality and lower prices.

Tracking down cartels
The NMa picks up on suspicions of violations of the cartel prohibition from, among other things, complaints, its own market investigations, signals from parties in the field, signals from the media and talks with experts. There is also an exchange of information with other regulators, both nationally (including the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service) and internationally (including other European competition authorities).The leniency programme has also proved to be a valuable tool for the NMa's work in tracking down cartels in all sorts of sectors.

Would you like more information?
The film can be viewed and ordered free of charge on the website www.acm.nl.