CADE launches a system for leniency requests

On 1 October 2021, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) launched the digital platform Clique Leniência. It allows online requests for negotiating leniency agreements with the authority. The tool is simple, practical and safe, and in line with the global trend of using digital platforms for this purpose.

Considered one of the main antitrust enforcement instruments, leniency agreements give an opportunity for companies and individuals that have committed a competitive offense to repair damages, to contribute to CADE’s investigation and to obtain benefits in both the administrative and criminal spheres. The signing of a leniency agreement occurs only between CADE and the first company or individual to report the practice to the authority.

Therefore, the objective of the leniency tool is to facilitate the submission of the so-called “marker request”, i.e. when a party to an anticompetitive conduct reaches out the Office of the Superintendent General of CADE to report the violation and propose a leniency agreement. The marker request regards a request for a password to ensure that the requesting party is the first applicant in relation to a certain conduct and, consequently, if the party is qualified to receive the benefits of this type of agreement.

The request for a marker made through Clique Leniência is confidential. The platform has an encrypted database that ensures the safety of the provided information, which does not enter CADE’s document management system.

How it works

The Clique Leniência tool is available on the main page of CADE’s website. First, applicants fill out a form requesting a marker by providing their data and notifying the authority on the anticompetitive conduct. The maximum time for completing the form is 30 minutes; within this period, the applicant’s place in the queue is saved.

Once CADE receives the form, it has up to five working days to analyse the request and respond on the password availability to negotiate the leniency agreement. Applicants receive confirmation of their request exclusively on the e-mail they indicate in the form, and they can track the request status through it.

The system allows rectification of the form during CADE’s analysis of the information, saving the applicant’s queue place to negotiate the agreement. However, it results in the deadline for review by the authority to start counting from the date of rectification.

CADE’s Ordinance No. 416 of 9 September 2021 regulates the Clique Leniência system.

Learn how the tool works here.