Abstract:

The Turkish Competition Authority has for the first time fined a software company pursuant to Article 14 of the Misdemeanour Law No. 5326 due to its role to facilitate a cartel between the construction controlling companies. Although the Authority has fined before “hub-and-spoke” type cartels where a downstream company serves a vehicle to flow commercially sensitive information between competing suppliers, it is the first time to impose antitrust fine on a company that is neither party to a cartel agreement nor active in the market where the infringement is carried out. This article aims to discuss whether competition restrictions amount to a misdemeanour as per the Law No. 5326 and, conditions of abetment in a misdemeanour action and necessities of provisions set forth under the Law No.5326 for competition law practices considering the EU AC Treuhand decision which is followed by an analysis of Turkish Competition Board decision of Corum YDF (2013) within this framework

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