Corporate Antitrust Compliance Systems – Changes Initiated By FAS Russia

On July 8, 2015, the Presidium of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS Russia) provisionally approved  the idea of changes to the RF Law on Protection of Competition that would introduce the concept of a "system of internal prevention of violations of antimonopoly legislation of a business entity" (better known as an internal antitrust compliance system) and changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses that would mitigate administrative penalties for antitrust violations if the business has such an internal compliance system in place and adheres to its provisions.

Igor Artemiev, the head of FAS Russia, who spoke at the Presidium's meeting, noted that the Strategy for Developing Competition and Antimonopoly Legislation envisions the creation of a package of measures to introduce such systems into the business practices of market participants. In other words, as a start FAS Russia needs to create positive legal consequences for companies that on their own