An Effective, Practical Approach to International Competition Law Compliance

Abstract

The traditional approach to antitrust or competition law compliance is to start with the parade of horribles that can flow from a violation (jail, fines, damages, bad press), then stress the need for formal policies and responsibilities, and finally look at enforcement. I would like to suggest a different way of reaching the goal that compliance sets out to achieve - obeying the law, controlling risk, and providing the most effective means of learning about and curing any violations. An effective international competition law compliance program has to deal with three sets of moving parts: (a) The law itself, and the variations among countries; (b) The need for any major corporation to have procedures in place assure that at least a good faith attempt at compliance is made (no compliance program that involves human beings has ever been perfect); and (c) The need to have people communicate and function effectively together.