CADE remains one of the best antitrust agencies worldwide

For the ninth consecutive year, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) got four stars in the international ranking annually published by the Global Competition Review (GCR) – a British journal specialized in antitrust policy and competition law. CADE remains ranked amongst the best antitrust authorities worldwide.

According to the release, the Brazilian antitrust agency is one of the most significant agencies in South America. In 2020, CADE was recognized for its performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Notable actions included the adoption of prompt safety measures and continuous provision of services to the market and society.

One of the highlights was the agency’s performance in merger review, which surpassed previous years’ results. In total, CADE reviewed 471 transactions in 2020, compared to 442 in 2019 and 405 in 2018. As to anticompetitive conduct, 29 cartel decisions were reviewed – an increase of 15 cases compared to the previous year.

To keep an excellent alignment with its organisational mission, the agency started to provide new services and increased surveillance to secure free competition in the Brazilian market during the global health crisis. Amongst its initiatives, CADE launched an investigation to scrutinise anticompetitive conduct in the market of medical and pharmaceutical products and amended its statutes to provide for virtual hearings, thus enforcing distancing measures and ensuring the well-functioning of the agency.

Regarding advocacy, the GCR pointed out the new unit for coordination of market studies and competition advocacy, part of its Department of Economic Studies, was an important initiative to strengthen the agency’s advocacy role. "That will likely help it build on what is already a solid reputation among local lawyers, who rate its advocacy efforts", stated the GCR.

Review and ranking

The GCR is the most prestigious international journal on the antitrust field that monitors the work of antitrust agencies worldwide.

The ranking elaborated by GCR considers the performance of antitrust authorities in the year before the disclosure of review results. The rating employs a system of one to five stars, and takes into account the general performance of competition agencies in the task of protecting the economy from anticompetitive practices.

In this edition, the 36 main antitrust authorities from various jurisdictions were reviewed as from qualitative and quantitative criteria. In addition to hearing the opinion of lawyers and other experts in the field, GCR applies a questionnaire to antitrust agencies to get important data for the review.

The information requested concerns, for instance, the number of merger and acquisitions reported and how such transactions have been reviewed, including the timeframe for a final decision, details about ongoing and concluded investigations, amongst other information regarding the agency’s performance throughout the year.