Leniency deal for firms that blow whistle on cartels

Published on Wednesday 10 June 2009 19:07

WHISTLEBLOWERS have been given an incentive to come forward and burst cartels after the Lord Advocate agreed to new rules on leniency for offenders.

In the rest of the UK, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) can offer firms involved in cartel activity, such as price-fixing or bid-rigging, leniency during criminal prosecution, or immunity from fines, if they provide information to help stop a cartel.

The fines can amount to 10 per cent of a company's turnover, and in 2007 the rules were used to offer Virgin Atlantic immunity after it admitted fixing prices with British Airways, which was subsequently fined 121.5 million.

In Scotland, the final say on prosecution rests with the Lord Advocate, who has now agreed to give "serious weight" to recommendations made by the OFT when dealing with applications for leniency. The Crown Office has also agreed not to use information passed to the OFT during leniency applications as intelligence or evidence in future investigations if the application is refused.

Simon Williams, the OFT's senior director of cartels and criminal enforcement, said the new rules, to be announced in Edinburgh today, would make providing information on cartels more attractive in Scotland.

"Most of our cases in England and Wales arise from leniency – it's one of our most important tools by far," he said. "It may well be that the previous arrangements in Scotland had a dampening effect on our ability to enforce the cartel laws."

Peter Willis, head of law firm Dundas & Wilson's competition group, said the agreement was a "good step forward" and would encourage cartel operators to come forward:

"Leniency works on the basis of creating uncertainty within cartels. If you think there's a risk that somebody else might come forward before you do, you will rush off (to the OFT] as quickly as you can."

The Crown Office said it hoped the new rules would help in the detection of cartels.