FAS SUPPORTS ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL COMPLIANCE-MANAGEMENT STANDARD

Implementing compliance is an incentive to have fewer inspections on conformity with the antimonopoly law

On 12 November 2019, the Government of the Moscow region held an International Research-to-Practice Conference - “Compliance as a risk management system: Russian and European experiences”.

Deputy Head of FAS Sergey Puzyrevsky described FAS efforts on improving antimonopoly regulation.

He pointed out that current Russian antimonopoly norms conform to the international standards.

“An antimonopoly regulation system means, first of all, restricting possibilities of monopolists and dominant economic entities on the markets, and prohibiting anticompetitive agreements. Since 2012 FAS is a body of preventative control. The execution rate of FAS warnings is over 80%”, explained Deputy Head of FAS.

He said that responding to the modern challenges generated by digitalization of the economy, FAS is transforming the law. For instance, the “fifth antimonopoly package” is drafted and the draft law on compliance is under the first reading at the State Duma.

The draft specifies that implementing antimonopoly compliance is voluntary. Economic entities will be able to submit in-house antimonopoly compliance acts for FAS endorsement. If such acts meet the requirements of the antimonopoly law, the corporate actions within the approved antimonopoly compliance cannot be recognized as violations of the antimonopoly law.

“Today already if a company that has implemented compliance does not commit antimonopoly violations for three years, its risk level* can be changed, for instance, from average to moderate. Implementing compliance is some kind of an incentive to have fewer scheduled inspections on conformity with the antimonopoly law”, clarified Sergey Puzyrevsky.

An analysis of the work practice of the antimonopoly bodies shows that antimonopoly violations are frequently committed by the authorities. According to the goals of the National Competition Development Plan, such violations should at least halve by 2020.

“Antimonopoly violations by the authorities can be reduced, particularly, through antimonopoly compliance. To assist the regions, FAS has devised the relevant guidelines”, informed Sergey Puzyrevsky. “As of Q3 2019, all 85 regions of Russia and 19 federal executive bodies passed acts on antimonopoly compliance”.

The Conference participants proposed to create a national compliance-management standard. The idea was supported by Deputy Head of FAS.

* Under № 213 Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 01.03.2018, implementing compliance forms the grounds to decrease the risk category under the frame of the risk-oriented approach for scheduled inspections of economic entities  to verify observance of the antimonopoly law.