Criminal prosecutions for cartel offences

UK competition law regulates anti-competitive conduct, merger control and ensures markets are competitive. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the UK's economy wide competition authority established by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. While the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal UK competition authority, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has the power to prosecute under section 190 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (EnA 2002). The SFO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the CMA, allowing cartel offences to be investigated individually or jointly by the two bodies. See Practice Note: Memorandum of understanding—criminal investigations and prosecutions—Competition and Markets Authority.

For information on the broader regime for the regulation of competition in the UK, see: UK competition regime—overview, UK antitrust investigations and appeals–overview, UK market investigations as well as Practice Notes: Chapter I prohibition and Chapter II prohibition.