From April 28 through May 1, the International Competition Network (ICN) held its 2015 annual conference. The ICN is a network that unites 132 competition watchdogs from 119 jurisdictions, including the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the European Commission (EC) and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). Its role is to act as a forum for the global antitrust community and to facilitate dialogue and build consensus on competition policy and practices. Members participate in working groups and produce recommendations once they have reached consensus. Each year, during the annual conference, recommendations are adopted by the members and become best practices or guidance tools that may be implemented by competition authorities across the world.

This year, the ICN adopted several recommended practices including, most notably, “ICN Guidance on Investigative Process” and an “ICN Practical Guide to International Enforcement Cooperation in Mergers.”

Guidance on Investigative Process

The “ICN Guidance on Investigative Process” is the result of discussions held within the Agency Effectiveness Working Group over several years as part of the ICN’s Investigative Process Project co-led by the FTC and the EC. This is the first time the ICN has addressed investigative processes used by competition agencies across all competition enforcement areas. The discussions focused on two prongs: (i) enforcement tools available to competition agencies to obtain relevant information in the course of their investigations, and (ii) the procedures they follow when conducting such investigations. The adopted work product contains a list of key principles and practices which the participants deemed important in order to guarantee an effective and fair investigative process:

• Investigative tools. Competition authorities should be able to make use of investigative tools, such as requests for information, inspections and interviews. They should have the possibility to obtain information by compulsion if necessary. Such investigative tools should be used in accordance with a legal framework setting out clear criteria, and be subject to both internal checks and balances and external review.
• Transparency concerning policies and standards. Competition authorities should lay out legal standards and agency policies in formal or informal documents, such as manuals, staff working papers, best practices or guidelines. There is one limit: transparency should not undermine the effectiveness of investigations.
• Transparency during an investigation. Competition agencies should let parties know as soon as feasible that an investigation has been opened; the legal basis for the investigation; the competitive concerns and the applicable theories of harm; the progress and timing of the investigation; and, once formal allegations are made, the evidence relied upon. The level of transparency may be different depending on the type of investigation.
• Engagement during an investigation. Competition agencies should provide parties with the possibility to defend themselves against the allegations raised. In doing so, parties should be able to submit factual, legal, and economic evidence in due course. Interested third parties should also be able to submit their views.
• Confidentiality protection and legal privileges. Parties and third parties should be able to ask [...]
  
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