Information sharing in competition policy

Annex A. OECD case and guidance review

OECD information exchange case analysis

Table ‎A.1. Selected Standalone Information Exchange Cases

OECD Jurisdiction	Case	Conduct / key finding	Restriction of competition	Outcome
Denmark	Danish Competition Council, Hugo Boss / Kaufmann and Hugo Boss / Ginsborg (24 June 2020)	Retailers exchanged information on future prices, discounts and quantities; the authority found that this reduced uncertainty over future sales, enabled co-ordination, and contributed to lower discounts and a narrower range of products on sale.	By object	Fine of approx. EUR 2.43 million
EU	CJEU, Case C-298/22, Banco BPN v BIC Português and Others (29 July 2024)	Fourteen Portuguese banks exchanged current and future commercial conditions and production volumes in home loans, consumer credit and corporate lending; the Court confirmed that a standalone exchange of confidential strategic information may constitute a restriction of competition by object under Article 101(1) TFEU.	By object	Fine of EUR 225 million
France	French Competition Authority, Decision 19-D-25 of 17 December 2019, Meal Vouchers	The four main meal voucher providers exchanged confidential information on their respective market shares on a monthly basis through the French National Meal Vouchers Commission; the authority found that they entered into a series of agreements aimed at foreclosing the market by restricting the entry of new players and preventing the launch of dematerialised vouchers.	By effect	Fine of EUR 415 million
Hungary	GVH, CooperVision Optikai Cikkeket Forgalmazó, Vj/96-310/2010 (23 June 2014)	Leading suppliers of contact lenses and lens-care products used a market-research arrangement to exchange non-public, firm-specific recent sales-volume and revenue data, broken down by company and product segment; the GVH found that this created an information-sharing system capable of restricting competition because it gave competitors access to commercially sensitive data unavailable from public sources.	By effect	Fine of approx. EUR 257,000
Norway	Norwegian Competition Authority, Coop / Norgesgruppen / Rema (21 August 2024)	Three grocery chains agreed on arrangements that allowed extensive collection of each other’s store-level price information using hand scanners; the authority found that this enabled large-scale price surveillance in a market covering around 95% of grocery turnover.	By effect	Fine of approx. EUR 420 million
Spain	CNMC, Tabacos / AENA Servicios Comerciales; annulled by the National High Court, Logista (2025)	A tobacco distributor provided manufacturers with access to daily sales data by product and province; the CNMC found that these exchanges were strategic, recent, highly detailed and non-public, but the National High Court later annulled the decision on the basis that the anticompetitive effects had not been sufficiently proved.	By effect	EUR 21.9 million fine annulled on appeal
Spain	CNMC, S/0482/13 – Fabricantes de automóviles (23 July 2015)	Twenty-one vehicle manufacturers/distributors and two consultancy firms engaged in a systematic exchange of current and future highly disaggregated commercially sensitive information relating to distribution and after-sales services; the CNMC treated this as part of a single and continuous cartel infringement, including exchanges affecting dealer remuneration, margins and commercial strategy.	By object	Fine of EUR 171 million
Türkiye	Competition Board, Corporate Loans, 17-39/636-276 (28 November 2017)	Banks exchanged competitively sensitive information on loan prices, amounts and maturities in the corporate and commercial banking markets; the Board emphasised the importance of the timing and scope of the exchanges, and whether customers were aware of them, before concluding that some parties had infringed Article 4 through unlawful information exchange.	By object	Fine of approx. EUR 428,000
UK	CMA, Case 50507.2, Nortriptyline (4 March 2020)	Companies exchanged commercially sensitive information on prices, volumes, supply timing and entry plans with the aim of maintaining prices, or at least slowing their decline; the CMA found that the exchange reduced strategic uncertainty and had the object of preventing, restricting or distorting competition.	By object	Fine of GBP 1.5 million

OECD authority guidance

Table A.2 below is based on an online search for competition authority guidance discussing information sharing. The table is not exhaustive but intended to highlight recent practices found in relation to guidance in this area across the OECD.

Table ‎A.2. Information Exchange Guidance Adopted by OECD Jurisdictions

OECD Jurisdiction	Date	Category of Guidance	Language	Reference
Australia	2023	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Guidelines on Concerted Practices
Belgium	2025	Sector‑specific information exchange guidance	English	Belgian Competition Authority (BCA), Communication on Competition Law and Combination Therapies
Belgium	2019	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	French	Belgian Competition Authority, Guide relatif à l’échange d’informations
Canada	2021	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	Competition Bureau, Competitor Collaboration Guidelines
Chile	2011	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Spanish	Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE), Guía sobre asociaciones gremiales y libre competencia
Colombia	2010	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Spanish	Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC), Cartilla sobre asociaciones de empresas y asociaciones de profesionales
Czechia	2021	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Czech	Office for the Protection of Competition, Výměna informací mezi soutěžiteli
Denmark	2025	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Danish	Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, Vejledning om kommunikation i brancheforeninger og konkurrencereglerne
European Union	2023	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	European Commission, Communication from the Commission – Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to horizontal co-operation agreements
France	2012	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	French	Autorité de la concurrence, Organismes professionnels et droit de la concurrence
Greece	n/a	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	Hellenic Competition Commission, Guidelines on the implementation of Article 1A
Germany	2021	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	German	Bundeskartellamt, Leitlinien für Genossenschaften
Iceland	2020	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Icelandic	Competition Authority of Iceland, Leiðbeiningar um beitingu 15. gr. samkeppnislaga Undantekning frá banni við samráði fyrirtækja
Ireland	2017	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	English	Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Notice on Activities of Trade Associations and Compliance with Competition Law
Israel	2014	Guidelines embedded in trade or professional association rules	English	Antitrust Authority, Public Statement 3/14 In the matter of Trade Associations and Their Activity
Japan	2020	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	English	Japan Fair Trade Commission, Guidelines Concerning Activities of Trade Associations
Korea	2021	National guidance specifically on information exchange	Korean	Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), Guidelines on the Review of Unfair Collaborative Acts Involving Information Exchange
Latvia	n/a	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Latvian	Konkurences padome, Vadlīnijas asociācijām un to biedriem par Konkurences likuma 11.pantā minētā aizlieguma ievērošanu
Lithuania	n/a	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Lithuanian	Lithuanian Competition Authority, Asociacijų veikla: kaip nepažeisti Konkurencijos teisės reikalavimų
Mexico	2015	National guidance specifically on information exchange	Spanish	Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), Guía sobre el intercambio de información entre agentes económicos
Mexico	2020	National guidance specifically on information exchange (public consultation update)	Spanish	Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), Public consultation update to Guía sobre el intercambio de información
Netherlands	2019	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	Authority for Consumers and Markets, Guidelines Collaborations between competitiors
New Zealand	2021	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	English	Commerce Commission New Zealand, Fact Sheet The Commerce Act – Trade associations
Portugal	2021	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Portuguese	Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC), Guia para associações de empresas
Slovakia	2014	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	Slovak	Slovak Competition Authority, Commentary on § 4 - § 6 Agreement restricting competition
Spain	2009	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Spanish	Spanish National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), Guía sobre asociaciones empresariales
Sweden	n/a	Guidance embedded in trade or professional association rules	Swedish	Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket), Vägledning för samarbete inom ramen för en branschorganisation
Türkiye	2013	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	Turkish Competition Authority, Guidelines on Horizontal Cooperation Agreements
United Kingdom	2023	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co‑operation guidelines	English	Competition and Markets Authority, Horizontal Agreements Guidance
United States	2014	Sector‑specific information exchange guidance	English	U.S. Department of Justice & Federal Trade Commission, Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cyber Threat Information
United States	2016	Sector‑specific information exchange guidance	English	U.S. Department of Justice & Federal Trade Commission, Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals
United States	2026	Guidance on information exchange within broader horizontal co-operation guidelines (public consultation)	English	U.S. Department of Justice & Federal Trade Commission, Public consultation on guidance on business collaborations