Preface

• Pages: 21-22

PREFACE

This first edition of the International Antitrust Cartel Handbook

is a vital reference for both new and experienced antitrust practitioners

navigating the increasingly complex global cartel enforcement

environment. Globalization is the overarching theme of modern

cartel enforcement. Many jurisdictions have granted their

competition authorities broad jurisdictional reach and provided them

with aggressive investigative tools, such as wiretap authority and

compulsory process. There is also a burgeoning movement to

criminalize cartel activity in places where it has previously been

regarded as wholly or principally a civil or administrative matter. And

the global proliferation of leniency programs continues to radically

destabilize cartels, creating powerful incentives for institutions to turn

against their co-conspirators.

In this constantly evolving and ever more crowded

regulatory environment, the United States remains among the

world’s leading jurisdictions for cartel enforcement. Cartel

enforcement in the United States has remained a priority regardless of

changes in administration or in the leadership of the Department of

Justice’s Antitrust Division. The Division’s efforts continue to be

marked by transparency in policy and predictability in results, themes

that both fit with traditional notions of due process and create the kind

of environment in which the Division’s Leniency Program functions

best. In its dealings with its partners abroad, the Division continues to

try to lead by example and advocate its policy views while remaining

cognizant of the comity considerations that are essential to what is

increasingly a cooperative regime of global cartel enforcement.

The International Antitrust Cartel Handbook brings together

leading cartel practitioners from around the world to address the critical

issues that arise throughout the lifecycle of a cartel investigation and

prosecution. The contributing drafters boast substantial

experience with cartel investigations and many have served in

senior positions in government. They know both what the law says and

how it is actually enforced, and we think you will find their

comprehensive and practical guidance invaluable. The Handbook seeks

to provide both breadth of coverage and analytical

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