A Different Perspective To Employer`s Liability For Anti-Competitive Behaviors: Arçelik's Application For Leniency

(1) Introduction

The Turkish Competition Authority ("Authority") has recently published a decision concerning a leniency application submitted by Arçelik Pazarlama A.S. ("Arçelik" or "Applicant") - one of the leading manufacturers of white appliances in Turkey.¹

The case and the subsequent decision are interesting in various aspects. Firstly, Arçelik submitted a set of documents attesting to an employee`s exchange of commercially and competitively sensitive information with its competitor Vestel Ticaret A.S. ("Vestel"), under a leniency application, taking the risk of not being granted full immunity from the fines given that a possible violation stemming from exchange of competitively sensitive information is not covered by the Turkish leniency regulation. Secondly, while the Competition Board ("Board") did establish that there was an exchange of competitively sensitive information, it refrained from categorizing it as a violation within the meaning of the Law