Managing the steady growth of legal compliance requirements creates increasing challenges to business. Compliance with the law has become particularly important in the field of antitrust—or competition—law, where the proliferation of laws across the globe has been unprecedented.
Antitrust law is key to ensuring that companies compete with each other on a level playing field, minimising market distortions so that goods and services are delivered to buyers at a fair price.
The constant evolution of antitrust laws, however, with new laws regularly adopted, creates challenges for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to keep pace.
Moreover, the risks of non-compliance, deliberate or not, are significant. Sanctions for antitrust violations are often substantial and reputational damage to companies as a result of an adverse antitrust finding is massive.
The strongest driver for compliance with antitrust law is the desire to conduct business ethically and to be recognised as doing so. While the penalties for non-compliance can be very significant, a company’s reputation is seriously damaged by the adverse publicity attracted by a decision that it has violated the law.
While many companies already have antitrust compliance programmes in place to help protect themselves (and their shareholders), there is historically little consensus among enforcement agencies on how best to support business in compliance efforts.
ICC works to close this gap by producing practical tools on competition law—in particular in antitrust compliance for companies of all sizes and across sectors, as well as collecting best practices around the world to deepen dialogue with public and private stakeholders.
