The Cartels and Leniency Review, Sixth Edition – ARGENTINA
THE CARTELS AND LENIENCY REVIEW, SIXTH EDITION – CHAPTER 2 by Camila Corvalán.
ENFORCEMENT POLICIES AND GUIDANCE
Antitrust legislation began in Argentina with the enforcement of Act No. 11,120, inspired by the provisions of the United States antitrust law. This Act was replaced by Act No. 12,906, wich was in turn replaced by Act No. 22,262 in 1980.
The enforcement of Act No. 22,262 resulted in the establishment of the first antitrust agency of Argentina, the National Commission for the Defence of Competition (CNDC), which focuses on targeting and sanctioning anticompetitive conduct. Finally, on 25 August 1999, this Act was abrogated and new antitrust regulations were enacted through Act No. 25,156 (the Competition Act), which is the current law. One of the key provisions of the Competition Act is the merger and acquisitions control procedure.
The Antitrust Act was complemented bu Decree No. 89/2011. The law and the named decree were complemented by regulations regarding the procedures established in them. Some of the sections of Act No. 25,156 were modified in September 2014 under Act No. 26,993. A proposed amendment to the antitrust law was submitted to Congress and approved by the Argentina House of Representatives on 22 November 2017. The bill has already passed to the Senate, where is expected to be approved in the next few months. Once the bill is approved, the Argentine Executive power will need to regulate the new law in the next 60 business days; see Section IV for the further details regarding the amendment.
Further to the aforementioned specific regulation, the Argentine Constitution promotes effective competition and efficiency among markets in Argentina and intends to protect consumers welfare.
Currently, the authority that enforces the Competition Act and its complementary regulations is the Secretariat of Trade (the Secretariat), led by Mr Miguel Braun, which formally depends on the Ministry of Production, led by Mr Francisco Cabrera, and is assisted in the matter by the CNDC (principally formed of economist and lawyers). The agencies responsible for enforcing prohibitions on anticompetitive conduct are the CNDC and the Secretariat (collectively, the antitrust authorities).
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