The Regulation on Settlement is published

The Regulation on the Settlement Procedure for Investigations on Anticompetitive Agreements, Concerted Practices, Decisions and Abuse of Dominant Position (“Regulation”) entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette dated 15.07.2021 and numbered 31542. The Regulation regulates the procedures and principles regarding the settlement process established under the Article 43 of the Law on the Protection of Competition No. 4054 (“Law No. 4054”) for the undertakings or associations of undertakings subjected to investigations regarding the prohibited conducts under Articles 4 and 6 of the Law No. 4054 and who accept the existence of violation and its scope. The aforementioned Regulation implements the following principles:

The settlement procedure is commenced after the initiation of an investigation ex officio by the Competition Board (“Board”) or upon the investigated parties’ written request. The Board evaluates the followings matters:

• the number of the investigated parties, whether a significant number of investigated parties apply for settlement;
• the scope of the violation and nature of the evidence,
• the possibility of coming to an agreement on the existence and the scope of the violation with the investigated parties.

The Board and the parties may settle until the investigation report is served.

The parties subjected to the investigation submit their settlement requests in writing before the Competition Authority (“Authority”). The Board may accept or reject the request, or may decide to invite the other investigated parties if any for settlement discussions. In the event that the Board accepts the request of the parties subjected to the investigation, and the parties accept the invitation of the Board in due time, the Authority initiates the settlement discussions as soon as possible. During the settlement discussions, it is ensured that the settling party is informed about the allegations and violation, provided that the security of the investigation is not compromised.

By the time the settlement discussions come to an end, the Board issues an interim decision regarding the process.  In the event the parties accept the matters established with the interim decision, they submit their settlement letter to the Authority that declares their acceptance of the violation. The Board terminates the investigation with its decision regarding the violation and the administrative fine within 15 days upon the submission of the settlement letter before the Authority.

The regulation enters into force on the date of its publication.

You may find the full text of the Regulation here.