Cartel Investigations

The term has various meanings. In Roman law a collegium was a body of persons associated for a common function. The name was used by many medieval institutions, including guilds. In most universities of the later Middle Ages, collegium meant an endowed residence hall for university students. The colleges kept libraries and scientific instruments and offered salaries to tutors who could prepare students to be examined for degrees. Eventually few students lived outside colleges, and college teaching eclipsed university teaching. In England, secondary schools (e.g., Winchester and Eton) are sometimes called colleges. Canada also has collegiate schools. In the U.S., college may refer to a four-year institution of higher education offering a bachelor’s degree, or to a two-year junior or community college with a program leading to the associate’s degree. A four-year college usually emphasizes a liberal arts or general education rather than specialized technical or vocational preparation. The four-year college may be an independent private institution or an undergraduate division of a university.

We have a dedicated cartel investigations group bringing together relevant expertise across our practice areas, to provide a comprehensive and focused service to handle the significant risks and penalties which companies face under anti-cartel laws in many jurisdictions (including personal criminal liabilities).

Our cartel investigations group brings together competition, “white collar” crime, litigation and employment expertise in order to provide expert assistance in relation to anti-cartel legislation. The issues we advise on include:
Handling dawn raids and other forms of intrusive cartel investigations by competition authorities.

Criminal investigations.

Compliance procedures and training.

Leniency regimes and schemes for immunity from and reduction of penalties.

Employment law issues (and the potential conflict of interest arising from the possibility of both corporate and individual sanctions for infringement of the anti-cartel rules).

Private litigation.

The cartel investigations group’s expertise extends to handling multi-jurisdictional investigations.