Competition Law and Antitrust Compliance Training Course

Introduction

Cartel contacts, abusive pricing by a dominant supplier and transactions closed without clearance expose organisations to fines, void clauses and damages claims, yet many sales, procurement and legal teams cannot tell where ordinary commercial conduct crosses the line. This Core Concept course builds practitioner skill in competition law and antitrust compliance: defining relevant markets, assessing market power, screening horizontal and vertical agreements, testing unilateral conduct, handling merger notifications, managing contact with rivals and responding to investigations. Participants produce a Competition Compliance Risk Assessment and Programme Plan for their organisation.

Course Objectives

• Define the relevant product and geographic market for a business line and assess market power using shares, concentration and entry barriers
• Identify cartel conduct, bid rigging and unsafe information exchange in dealings with competitors, trade associations and tender processes
• Review distribution and supply agreements for resale price maintenance, territorial restrictions and exclusivity risks
• Assess pricing, rebate, tying and refusal-to-supply practices of a dominant firm against abuse of dominance principles
• Determine when a transaction may require merger control notification and manage dawn raid, leniency and penalty exposure
• Design a competition compliance programme with risk assessment, policies, training, monitoring and escalation routes

Target Audience

• In-house legal managers who advise on commercial agreements, pricing and transactions
• Compliance managers responsible for competition risk assessment, policies and training
• Commercial and sales managers who set prices, discounts and distribution terms
• Procurement managers who run tenders and evaluate supplier bids
• Business development managers who deal with competitors in joint ventures, alliances and trade associations

Course Outline

Day 1: Objectives of Competition Law, Market Definition and Market Power

• Objectives of Competition Law: Consumer Welfare, Efficiency and Innovation
• Core Concepts: Undertakings, Agreements, Concerted Practices and Association Decisions
• Relevant Product and Geographic Market Definition Using Demand and Supply Substitution
• Market Power Indicators: Market Shares, Concentration Indices and Barriers to Entry
• Competition Risk Heat Map of Business Lines and Competitor Touchpoints

Day 2: Horizontal Agreements, Cartels and Bid Rigging

• Hardcore Cartel Conduct: Price Fixing, Output Limitation and Market Sharing
• Bid Rigging Forms: Cover Bidding, Bid Suppression, Bid Rotation and Subcontracting
• Information Exchange Screening: Price, Volume and Strategic Data Tests
• Trade Association Meeting Protocol: Agendas, Attendance and Minutes Review
• Legitimate Horizontal Cooperation: Joint Purchasing, R&D and Standardisation Self-Assessment

Day 3: Vertical Agreements, Distribution and Abuse of Dominance

• Vertical Restraints: Resale Price Maintenance, Territorial and Customer Restrictions
• Exclusive, Selective and Franchise Distribution Clause Review
• Dominance Assessment and Exploitative Abuse: Excessive and Discriminatory Pricing
• Exclusionary Abuse: Predatory Pricing, Margin Squeeze, Tying and Bundling
• Refusal to Supply, Exclusive Dealing and Loyalty Rebate Assessment

Day 4: Merger Control, Investigations, Leniency and Enforcement Exposure

• Merger Control Triggers: Acquisition of Control, Joint Ventures and Notification Thresholds
• Substantive Merger Review, Gun-Jumping Risk and Remedy Offers
• Dawn Raid Response Protocol: Roles, Document Handling and Legal Privilege
• Leniency Applications and Cooperation Decisions in Cartel Cases
• Fines, Void Clauses and Private Damages Actions by Customers

Day 5: Case Work and the Competition Compliance Programme

• Distribution Network Case Study: Pricing and Territory Clause Audit
• Public Tender Case Study: Detecting and Escalating Suspected Collusion
• Compliance Programme Design: Risk Assessment, Policies, Training and Monitoring
• Competitor Contact Log, Escalation Route and Audit Test Plan
• Competition Compliance Risk Assessment and Programme Plan Drafting and Peer Review

Skills You Will Gain

• Relevant Market Analysis
• Market Power Assessment
• Cartel Risk Screening
• Bid Rigging Detection
• Distribution Agreement Review
• Unilateral Conduct Assessment
• Dawn Raid Readiness
• Compliance Programme Design

Why Attend This Course

• Return with a Competition Compliance Risk Assessment and Programme Plan built around your own markets, contracts and competitor contacts
• Spot the pricing, rebate and distribution terms that could void a clause or trigger a fine before they are signed
• Know what to do in the first hours of an unannounced inspection and when a leniency application should be considered
• Test your judgement on international case examples alongside legal, sales and procurement peers from other sectors

Conclusion

Competition law risk rarely announces itself: it sits in a pricing email, a trade association dinner, a distribution clause or a deal closed too early. The one week move from market definition and market power through cartels, bid rigging, vertical restraints and abuse of dominance to merger control, investigations, leniency and penalties. The final day applies these principles to distribution and tender cases and produces a Competition Compliance Risk Assessment and Programme Plan. The course explains general principles and is not legal advice.