Blowing The Whistle On Cartels -

PEOPLE WHO ARE considering blowing the whistle on cartels now stand to get a £250,000 reward from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA is strengthening its work against illegal cartels and increasing its reward from £100,000, to a quarter of a million pounds for those who are cartel whistleblowers.

Illegal cartels – businesses which cheat their customers by agreeing not to compete in order to keep their prices high – stop consumers and other businesses from getting a fair deal by stifling competition, says the CMA.

Cartel firms often go to great lengths to keep the cartel secret making them difficult to detect.

The CMA offers advice to people and businesses to help them spot, report and deter illegal anti-competitive practices. It encourages people who have witnessed illegal activity to report it by offering a reward as well as protecting their anonymity.

The reward is separate from the CMA’s leniency programme where a business or an individual that has participated in a cartel may escape sanctions if they come forward with information about the cartel, if certain conditions are met.

Businesses involved in illegal cartels can be fined up to 10% of their annual turnover, individuals directly involved can face up to 5 years in prison, and company directors can be disqualified from holding director positions for up to 15 years.

Comply with Competition Law

The CMA has a range of guidance to help businesses and directors understand more about how to comply with competition law.

Michael Grenfell, Executive Director of Enforcement at the CMA, said: “Cartels can cause serious damage to their customers, whether businesses or individual people, weakening price competitiveness – a particular concern at a time of cost-of-living pressures.

“The CMA’s job is to stamp out illegal cartels, but because cartels are generally conducted in secret, we need to encourage people to come forward and provide us with the information we need to crack down on cartels and protect people and businesses from the harm they cause. For these reasons, we are today increasing the maximum financial reward for informants and whistle-blowers who provide us with valuable information about cartels so that we can take action.”

The CMA has uncovered cartels in a wide range of industries such as construction, healthcare and consumer products and services, and the enhanced reward will help the CMA build on these cases. The ‘Cheating or Competing’ campaign shines a light on anti-competitive collusion and puts the onus on businesses to ensure their practices are fair and legal or risk the consequences. Further cases of suspected cartel are currently under investigation.

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