Antitrust v. Anti-Corruption Policy Approaches to Compliance : Why Such a Gap?

One of the striking differences between competition law and anti-corruption is the manner in which agencies take into account the compliance efforts of companies in the context of their investigations. The European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) refuse to consider compliance programs as mitigating factors in antitrust infringements. The French and U.K. competition authorities may grant a maximum of 10 percent reduction in fines for having effective compliance measures. In contrast, in the area of anti-corruption, companies in some of the same jurisdictions can escape liability completely for having implemented “adequate procedures.” This paper explores possible reasons for such a gap in policy approaches