CMA and SFO cartel collaboration agreement

Under UK law, both the CMA and the SFO can launch criminal cartel proceedings, resulting in individuals receiving fines and being imprisoned for up to five years.On 21st October, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) published an agreement setting out how they will collaborate on criminal cartel offences investigations.

On 21st October, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) published an agreement setting out how they will collaborate on criminal cartel offences investigations.

Competition disputes specialist Wessen Jazrawi shared her views with Emily Craig at GCR on this development: "In its February 2019 letter to BEIS, the CMA noted that the deterrent effect of the enforcement regime would be enhanced by individual responsibility being improved and, to that end acknowledged that it had found it difficult and costly to prosecute individuals for cartel activity, suggesting that primary responsibility may sit better with the SFO."

She adds: "It would seem, therefore, that the new MoU means the CMA is less likely than before to prosecute these offences, saving its firepower for other responsibilities. A bigger question is whether this shift will lead to an increase in the number of prosecutions being brought, or whether the SFO will likewise struggle to prioritise these offences."

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