The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has published updated guidelines on the application of the Finnish Competition Act in leniency cases

The guidelines begin with a separate review of the conditions for immunity from the penalty payment and the reduction of the penalty payment specific to the provisions. The guidelines then discuss general conditions on immunity and reduction, the practical aspects of the leniency procedure, and the different application types. Finally, the guidelines discuss the submission of applications to the FCCA.

The update is based on the ECN+ directive which harmonised the relevant legislation in the European Union. According to the Competition Act, an undertaking participating in an unlawful cartel may obtain leniency upon revealing such a cartel to competition authorities. Sections on leniency in the Competition Act have been amended and become more detailed in connection with the implementation of the ECN+ directive. In practice, however, the processing of leniency cases in the FCCA has not changed significantly, as the FCCA’s process of exempting from the penalty payment and reducing the penalty payment was in line with the requirements of the ECN+ directive even before the amendment of the Competition Act.

The company that initially exposed the cartel to the FCCA may be exempted from the penalty payment, which the FCCA would otherwise propose to the Market Court. The company must submit a corporate statement to the FCCA, as well as information and evidence on the cartel prior to the FCCA obtaining it from some other source. Parties other than the exposing party can also benefit from their cooperation with the FCCA. The penalty payment for parties to the cartel may be reduced if they submit a corporate statement and information and evidence relevant for establishing the restriction of competition or its full scope or nature to the FCCA, prior to the FCCA obtaining the information from some other source. The penalty payment may be reduced by a maximum of 50 per cent. The amount of the reduction is impacted by the time of providing the information and by the relevance of the information provided by the company in establishing the restriction of competition.

The contents of the Competition Act and the guidelines on leniency applicants’ obligation to cooperate with the FCCA throughout the investigation of the restriction of competition have been specified. The field of application of the provision has been limited to secret cartels. The provision does not apply to other types of cooperation between competitors. Immunity from the penalty payment is not possible in all situations. An undertaking that has coerced another undertaking to participate in a cartel cannot be exempted from the penalty payment.

The new guidelines specify that a corporate statement can be made in writing or orally, and an application for immunity from penalty payment or a reduction of the penalty payment can be filed in English (or in another EU state’s official language) when agreed; this has in practice been the case previously, too. In addition, the guidelines and the Competition Act now make a clearer distinction between the different application types, the marker application, and the summary application, even though in practice the use of different application types has not changed in the FCCA.

For more information, please contact Katia Duncker.

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