Legal Compliance & Corporate Strategies in Dealing with Antitrust Case
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Lee, Hsueh-Lung
Abstract
The proportion of capital-intensive and technology-intensive manufacturing industries in Taiwan has steadily increased in recent years. Though this has been a positive development, important industries such as international airlines carriers and TFT-LCD manufacturers have in recent years been targets of international antitrust investigations, resulting in increasingly aggressive and severe criminal prosecutions and fines imposed on these industry players for conduct involving concerted action to monopolize markets and/or to control product pricing -- actions constituting so-called illegal cartel activity.
Historically, Taiwan companies have generally tended to underestimate the legal risks associated with poor corporate governance, prevalent negligence problems, insider trading, and bribery scandals, as well as US and EU antitrust investigations, as experienced in recent years by many Asian companies. The consequences serve to underscore and illustrate the consequences of a general lack of adequate attention to legal and regulatory compliance and corporate governance. To be sure, Taiwan companies have gradually come to establish in-house legal departments, but most of such departments have focused on contract review, licensing and negotiation or limited legal advice. In terms of their capability to take advance prevention initiatives to manage antitrust risks, which is the subject-matter of this thesis, Taiwan companies have been seriously deficient. Accordingly in organizational operations, it is very necessary to strengthen the legal function and implement compliance programs, in order to have sound modus operandi to prevent the occurrence of improper conduct, and to avoid damage to business credibility and profitability. Regarding compliance provisions, the following is recommended:
1. Implement effective and easy to understand compliance training.
2. Advocacy and Awareness: concepts of top ten “do’s and don’ts”.
3. Rules and regulations pertaining to lawful interaction among industry competitors.
4. Rules and regulations pertaining to the collection of industry related information.
In addition, the following is recommended in terms of rules and guidelines to effectively deal with antitrust matters:
1. Effective engagement of outside legal counsel to properly advise on legal framework of antitrust law and regulation and the consequences of violations.
2. Comprehensive understanding of leniency policies which must be considered by companies.
3. Standard operating procedures by company management for document retention and external communications.
4. Standard operating procedures for the company’s interaction with the Department of Justice and/or relevant law enforcement authorities concerning plea negotiations and calculation of fines.
Subjects
antitrust
cartel
compliance
leniency policies
plea negotiations
SDGs
Type
thesis
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