Challenges and Co-Ordination of Leniency Programmes

Amnesty or leniency programmes are deemed to be working generally well in many jurisdictions. Still, many agencies report that their programmes have not yet reached their full potential. Indicatively, agencies mention the following challenges:

• a lower-than-hoped for number of leniency applications;
• low awareness of competition requirements and leniency options and procedures;
• opaque procedural steps to apply for and be granted leniency;
• low incentives to co-operate with competition authorities.

Optimising the design and organisation of leniency programmes is important for their success over time, especially in cases of parallel leniency applications to several jurisdictions where enforcement co-ordination can be crucial. Currently, many jurisdictions are in the process of assessing the effectiveness of their leniency system and considering means to improve it, increase its attractiveness for potential applicants and strengthen co-operation with other agencies in cross-border cartel cases.

In June 2018, the OECD held a roundtable to discuss the challenges to which amnesty/leniency programmes are exposed and proposals for improvements. This page contains all materials available. 

Executive summary with key findings • Points clefs de la discussion

Detailed summary of the discussion • Compte rendu détaillé

OECD Background note  •  Note de référence de l'OCDE

Note by Catarina Marvão Challenges to the EU Leniency Program: Leniency Inflation, Strategic use of leniency and Private damage claims

Note by Brent Snyder, Challenges to Leniency Posed by the Proliferation of Leniency Programs and Private Enforcement