DOJ' Antitrust Chief Heralds Global Cooperation in Certain Areas, but Also Sees Shortfalls
While global cooperation has increased among government agencies combating cartels and reviewing transactions, the head of DOJ's Antitrust Division told the annual Chatham House Competition Policy conference Thursday about differences in criminal treatment of cartel individuals and about becoming more…
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transparent and fair when applying laws. Renata Hesse, who succeeded Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer in April, said in her speech posted on DOJ's website there's "near unanimity around the world about the importance of discovering and prosecuting price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation" by international cartels, and over the past decade a majority of fines have been imposed outside the U.S. But there's a "pronounced difference" between the U.S. and most countries on holding individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing and that needs to change. Hesse also said there has been more focus on the procedural differences in applying competition law -- "the way we do our work" -- not so much on the substance of the law. A competition agency should measure its success not just by output, but also public confidence in it, which can be achieved through more transparency and procedural fairness, she said. Hesse said there has been great cooperation on deal review procedures and analysis. "Many jurisdictions now apply essentially the same substantive assessment of likely competitive effects from proposed mergers," she said. Last year, DOJ worked with 16 foreign enforcers on 30 different investigations, she added.