Niall Hearty considers the latest attempt to tackle illegal cartels

With the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) more than doubling the maximum reward it can offer for information that helps it tackle illegal cartels, Niall Hearty wrote about the scale of the challenge.

In an article published by Lexis Nexis PSL, Niall details the legislation relating to cartels, the penalties and the difficulties in securing evidence for a prosecution. He explains that as cartels are often run in a secretive manner the CMA depends on those with knowledge of them coming forward with information.

Niall also states that the CMA has issued fines totalling millions of pounds in recent years and cites a 2022 case of a light fittings supplier being ordered to pay £1.5 million for restricting the level of discounts retailers could offer customers.

He emphasises that cartel behaviour is a high-stakes, high-risk pattern of behaviour. It would be wrong, he argues, for those involved to view it as “a David versus Goliath-style battle between big business and an overwhelmed regulator’’. The CMA’s ability to pay large amounts of money for the right information is, he says, clear proof of this.

The full article can be read here.