Analysis Of The Leniency Policy Of United States

Cartels are the supreme evil of antitrust.Business operators influence the commodity price and divide the product market through Cartel agreement,limiting the market competition,harming the interests of the consumers,and ultimately hindering the development of economy.In order to discover cartels in time and improve the efficiency of the anti-monopoly enforcement authorities to investigate cartels,the leniency program came into being.The United States pioneered Corporate Leniency Policy in 1978.After decades of practical experience,the United States put forward Leniency Policy for Individuals,Leniency Plus and Penalty Plus policy,which greatly improves the efficiency of enforcement of Division,forms a strong deterrent between market mainstay,restrains the further development of Cartels,and protects the interests of consumers,forms an orderly market competition,promotes the economic development of the United States.Under the influence of the American leniency program,the EU,Japan,Canada,and South Korea followed,forming a system of leniency conforms to its own reality.Of course,China formulated the anti-monopoly law,the second paragraph of forty-sixth article is not specific and clear,and lack of operability.Although in the "industrial and commercial administration to investigate monopoly agreements,abuse of market dominance case procedures","anti-price monopoly law enforcement procedures","administration of industry and Commerce prohibition of monopoly agreement provisions" all appeared relevant statements,but there are inconsistencies between the provisions.China's "double stage and multi-agency" anti-monopoly law enforcement system has resulted in a lack of law enforcement standards and cross enforcement.Through a comprehensive analysis of the American leniency program,the experience andshortcomings of the American leniency system and the problems of the leniency program of China,the author puts forward suggestions for further improvement of the leniency program in China based on the practicalities of China.This paper is made up of four parts.By comparative analysis,historical analysis and other research methods,a comprehensive analysis of the rationalities and deficiencies of the American leniency program is made.The first part introduces the concept and value of leniency program,analyses the three cornerstones for the implementation of leniency program,which lays a theoretical foundation for the analysis of the latter.The second part mainly introduces the development of leniency program of United States,the formation of the Corporate Leniency Policy,Leniency Policy for Individuals,Leniency Plus and Penalty Plus policy which against Carter's behavior effectively,and learned by other countries.The third part expounds the insufficiencies of the American leniency program.Although the American leniency program has formed a relatively complete system,there are still some problems,including the qualification of application,unreasonable conditions of application and unclear responsibilities.About the qualification of application,American leniency program states leaders do not apply leniency program but the author it's lack of rationality.And about the Carve-out Policy,under certain conditions,the company's board of directors,senior managers and employees in specific conditions do not apply leniency program just because of the corporate leniency,and the author thinks the policy is fuzzy and specified conditions are not specific.About the conditions of application,American leniency program requires that a company should immediately take effective measures to terminate illegal activities if it finds illegal activities,which increases the discretion of the antimonopoly law enforcement agencies,and taking effective measures immediately is too harsh for the company.About responsibilities,American leniency program follows the principle of “first-in-the-door”,which means the first application can acquire full leniency,but the responsibility of others is unclear.The fourth part,after analyzing the experience and shortcomings of the American leniency program,combined with the practice of China's anti-monopoly law enforcement,analyzes the problems of the leniency system in China.In the process of the application of the leniency program,there are some problems such as law enforcement agencies' authority is too large,the legal liability is not set strictly,the application of the main body is unreasonable,and there is a lack of applicable procedural provisions.Based on the analysis of these problems,put forward suggestions towards our leniency program,including refine the qualification of application,make the conditions of application more clear,explicit the procedure of application,in order to be able to play a bigger role in the investigation of cartel behavior,improving the cartel investigation rate and the efficiency of the anti-monopoly law enforcement authority,promote the health development of economy in order.