The UK OFT publishes new guidelines on how it will set fines for competition law violations

The UK Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) has published new guidelines on how it will set fines for competition law violations (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines take into account developments in case law since the 2004 previous guidelines and bring the OFT’s policy on financial sanctions into line with that of the European Commission. They introduce a number of changes to the methodology for calculating penalties, including listing factors which may lead to a higher or lower fine (so-called aggravating and mitigating factors), which all companies should take into account. The Guidelines provide greater transparency on the OFT’s fining methodology. In particular, for the first time the OFT provides that a fine may be reduced if a company actively maintains a competition compliance program. The OFT