Antitrust

S H E A R M A N & S T E R L I N G L L P | 7 3 In Brazil, cartel enforcement remains a top priority with a particular focus on investigations of bid rigging related to public bids in the public procurement and infrastructure sectors. This is due to CADE's prioritization of cases derived from the Car Wash operation, an investigation of the largest corruption and cartel scheme in Brazilian history. While many of the antitrust enforcers around the globe are looking at digital technologies for their potential use as a conduit to carryout anti-competitive conduct, CADE is harnessing the power of algorithms to expose cartel conduct. In addition to the leniency program and other traditional investigative tools used in cartel enforcement, CADE has developed a digital platform that detects cartel conduct by analyzing various data patterns in public bids. This technology provided the basis for an investigation CADE launched in October 2018, when it issued search and seizure warrants to 13 companies over alleged cartel conduct on bids made by federal agencies to contract outsourced services. CADE is also promising to ramp up enforcement of non-cartel anti- competitive conduct. While the level of enforcement against unilateral conduct is still low in comparison to cartel cases, noteworthy developments in 2018 include the announcement in March 2018 that online travel agencies Booking.com, Decolar.com, and Expedia signed settlement agreements with CADE to suspend the inquiry into the use of price parity clauses in contracts with accommodation providers that use their online sales platforms. More recently, in October 2018, CADE reached a settlement with Brazilian stock exchange operator BM&FBovespa, agreeing to pay R$9.4 million — equivalent to 1% of the company's gross turnover — to suspend the agency's probe into the stock exchange operator for alleged monopolistic practices. Noting the payment rate was higher than in previous settlements negotiated in administrative investigations, CADE touted it as the competition authority's more incisive policy in combatting unilateral practices. CHINA In the decade since China's Anti- Monopoly Law in 2008, China has engaged in increasingly aggressive enforcement activities. Most significantly, 2018 has seen China's three antitrust agencies combine into one new competition regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). The consolidation is expected to result in more unified guidance on the interpretation and application of China's antitrust laws and regulations, with greater consistency in enforcement and more headline- grabbing enforcement actions. T H E C O N S O L I D A T I O N I S E X P E C T E D T O R E S U LT I N M O R E U N I F I E D G U I D A N C E O N T H E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N A N D A P P L I C A T I O N O F C H I N A' S A N T I T R U S T L A W S A N D R E G U L A T I O N S CONTINUED >

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