Ordinance
on Sanctions imposed for
Unlawful Restraints of Competition
(Cartel Act Sanctions Ordinance, CASO)

This Or­din­ance reg­u­lates:

a.

the as­sess­ment cri­ter­ia for the im­pos­i­tion of sanc­tions in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 49a para­graph 1 Car­tel Act;

b.

the con­di­tions and the pro­ced­ure for ob­tain­ing com­plete or par­tial im­munity from sanc­tions in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 49a para­graph 2 Car­tel Act;

c.

the con­di­tions and the pro­ced­ure for no­ti­fic­a­tions un­der Art­icle 49a para­graph 3 let­ter a Car­tel Act.

¹ The sanc­tion shall be as­sessed on the basis of the dur­a­tion and the ser­i­ous­ness of the un­law­ful con­duct. Ap­pro­pri­ate ac­count shall be taken of the prob­able profit that the un­der­tak­ing has achieved as a res­ult of its con­duct.

² In de­term­in­ing the sanc­tion, the prin­ciple of pro­por­tion­al­ity shall be ob­served.

De­pend­ing on the ser­i­ous­ness and nature of the in­fringe­ment, the ba­sic sanc­tion shall amount to a max­im­um of 10 per cent of the turnover achieved by the un­der­tak­ing con­cerned in the rel­ev­ant mar­kets in Switzer­land dur­ing the pre­ced­ing three fin­an­cial years.

If the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion has las­ted for one to five years, the ba­sic amount shall be in­creased by up to 50 per cent. If the in­fringe­ment has las­ted for longer than five years, the ba­sic amount shall be in­creased by an ad­di­tion­al sanc­tion of up to 10 per cent for each ad­di­tion­al year.

¹ In the case of ag­grav­at­ing cir­cum­stances, the amount un­der Art­icles 3 and 4 shall be in­creased, in par­tic­u­lar if the un­der­tak­ing:

a.

has re­peatedly in­fringed the Car­tel Act;

b.

has, due to the in­fringe­ment, achieved a profit that is par­tic­u­larly high by ob­ject­ive stand­ards;

c.

has re­fused to co­oper­ate with the au­thor­it­ies or has at­temp­ted to ob­struct the in­vest­ig­a­tions in any oth­er man­ner.

² In the case of re­straints of com­pet­i­tion un­der Art­icle 5 para­graphs 3 and 4 Car­tel Act, the amount in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 3 and 4 shall be fur­ther in­creased if the un­der­tak­ing:

a.

played an in­stig­at­ing or lead­ing role in the re­straint of com­pet­i­tion;

b.

in­struc­ted or car­ried out re­tali­at­ory meas­ures against oth­er un­der­tak­ings that par­ti­cip­ated in the re­straint of com­pet­i­tion in or­der to en­force the agree­ment af­fect­ing com­pet­i­tion.

¹ If there are mit­ig­at­ing cir­cum­stances, and in par­tic­u­lar if the un­der­tak­ing ter­min­ates the re­straint of com­pet­i­tion after the first in­ter­ven­tion of the Sec­ret­ari­at of the Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion but at the latest be­fore pro­ceed­ings un­der Art­icles 26–30 Car­tel Act are opened, the amount un­der Art­icles 3 and 4 shall be re­duced.

² In the case of re­straints of com­pet­i­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 5 para­graphs 3 and 4 Car­tel Act, the amount un­der Art­icles 3 and 4 shall be re­duced if the un­der­tak­ing:

a.

played a strictly pass­ive role in the re­straint of com­pet­i­tion;

b.

did not carry out re­tali­at­ory meas­ures that had been agreed in or­der to en­force the agree­ment af­fect­ing com­pet­i­tion.

In no case shall the sanc­tion ex­ceed 10 per cent of the turnover achieved by the un­der­tak­ing in Switzer­land dur­ing the pre­ced­ing three fin­an­cial years (Art. 49a para. 1 Car­tel Act).

¹ The Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion shall grant an un­der­tak­ing com­plete im­munity from a sanc­tion if the un­der­tak­ing re­ports its own par­ti­cip­a­tion in a re­straint of com­pet­i­tion with­in the mean­ing of Art­icle 5 para­graphs 3 and 4 Car­tel Act and if it is the first un­der­tak­ing to:

a.

provide in­form­a­tion that en­ables the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity to open com­pet­i­tion law pro­ceed­ings un­der Art­icle 27 Car­tel Act; or

b.

provide evid­ence that en­ables the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity to es­tab­lish an in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 5 para­graphs 3 or 4 Car­tel Act.

² Im­munity from a sanc­tion shall be gran­ted only if the un­der­tak­ing:

a.

has not co­erced any oth­er un­der­tak­ing in­to par­ti­cip­at­ing in the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion and has not played the in­stig­at­ing or lead­ing role in the rel­ev­ant in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion;

b.

vol­un­tar­ily sub­mits to the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity all avail­able in­form­a­tion and evid­ence re­lat­ing to the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion that lies with­in its sphere of in­flu­ence;

c.

con­tinu­ously co­oper­ates with the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity throughout the pro­ced­ure without re­stric­tions and without delay;

d.

ceases its par­ti­cip­a­tion in the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion upon sub­mit­ting its vol­un­tary re­port or upon be­ing ordered to do by the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity.

³ Im­munity from a sanc­tion in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1 let­ter a shall only be gran­ted if the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity does not already pos­sess suf­fi­cient in­form­a­tion to open pro­ceed­ings un­der Art­icles 26 and 27 Car­tel Act in re­la­tion to the re­por­ted re­straint of com­pet­i­tion.

⁴ Im­munity from a sanc­tion in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1 let­ter b shall only be gran­ted if:

a.

no oth­er un­der­tak­ing already ful­fils the re­quire­ments for com­plete im­munity in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1 let­ter a, and

b.

the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity does not already pos­sess suf­fi­cient evid­ence to prove the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion.²

¹ The vol­un­tary re­port shall con­tain all ne­ces­sary in­form­a­tion on the un­der­tak­ing it­self, on the nature of the re­por­ted in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion, on the oth­er un­der­tak­ings par­ti­cip­at­ing in the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion and on the af­fected or rel­ev­ant mar­kets. The vol­un­tary re­port may also take the form of verbal state­ment which is sub­sequently tran­scribed.

² The un­der­tak­ing may file the vol­un­tary re­port by sub­mit­ting an­onym­ous in­form­a­tion. The Sec­ret­ari­at shall de­term­ine the mod­al­it­ies on an in­di­vidu­al basis in con­sulta­tion with a mem­ber of the presid­ing body of the Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion.

³ The Sec­ret­ari­at shall ac­know­ledge re­ceipt of the vol­un­tary re­port, in­dic­at­ing the date and time of re­ceipt. It shall in­form the re­port­ing un­der­tak­ing in con­sulta­tion with a mem­ber of the presid­ing body:

a.

of the ex­tent to which it re­gards the re­quire­ments for com­plete im­munity from the sanc­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 8 para­graph 1 as ful­filled;

b.

of any ad­di­tion­al in­form­a­tion that the re­port­ing un­der­tak­ing shall sub­mit, in par­tic­u­lar to ful­fil the re­quire­ments set out in Art­icle 8 para­graph 1; and

c.

in the case of an an­onym­ous vol­un­tary re­port, of the peri­od with­in which the un­der­tak­ing must dis­close its iden­tity.

The com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity shall con­sider any sub­sequently re­ceived vol­un­tary re­ports only after it has reached a de­cision on pre­vi­ously re­ceived vol­un­tary re­ports in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 9 para­graph 3.

¹ The Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion shall de­cide wheth­er to grant com­plete im­munity from the sanc­tion.

² The Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion may only de­part from a com­mu­nic­a­tion by the Sec­ret­ari­at pur­su­ant to Art­icle 9 para­graph 3 let­ter a if it sub­sequently re­ceives in­form­a­tion that pre­cludes the grant­ing of im­munity from a sanc­tion.

¹ The Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion shall re­duce the sanc­tion if an un­der­tak­ing vol­un­tar­ily co­oper­ates in pro­ceed­ings and if it ter­min­ates its par­ti­cip­a­tion in the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion no later than at the time at which it sub­mits evid­ence.

² The re­duc­tion shall amount to up to 50 per cent of the sanc­tion cal­cu­lated in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 3–7. The im­port­ance of the un­der­tak­ing’s con­tri­bu­tion to the suc­cess of the pro­ceed­ings shall be de­cis­ive.

³ The re­duc­tion shall amount to up to 80 per cent of the sanc­tion cal­cu­lated in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 3–7 if an un­der­tak­ing vol­un­tar­ily provides in­form­a­tion or sub­mits evid­ence on fur­ther in­fringe­ments of com­pet­i­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 5 para­graph 3 or 4 Car­tel Act.

¹ The un­der­tak­ing shall sub­mit to the com­pet­i­tion au­thor­ity all ne­ces­sary in­form­a­tion on the re­port­ing un­der­tak­ing it­self, on the nature of the re­por­ted in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion, on the un­der­tak­ings par­ti­cip­at­ing in the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion and on the af­fected or rel­ev­ant mar­kets.

² The Sec­ret­ari­at shall ac­know­ledge re­ceipt of the evid­ence, in­dic­at­ing the date and time of re­ceipt.

¹ The Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion shall de­cide on the amount by which the sanc­tion im­posed on the co­oper­at­ing un­der­tak­ing shall be re­duced.

² If the co­oper­at­ing un­der­tak­ing pro­duces evid­ence that con­tains in­form­a­tion on the dur­a­tion of the in­fringe­ment of com­pet­i­tion of which the Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion had no know­ledge, the lat­ter shall cal­cu­late the sanc­tion without tak­ing this peri­od in­to con­sid­er­a­tion.

A no­ti­fic­a­tion with­in the mean­ing of Art­icle 49a para­graph 3 let­ter a Car­tel Act shall be sub­mit­ted to the Sec­ret­ari­at in trip­lic­ate in one of the of­fi­cial lan­guages.

¹ The Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion shall spe­cify the in­form­a­tion re­quired for the no­ti­fic­a­tion in a no­ti­fic­a­tion form. It shall com­mu­nic­ate the ex­tent to which a no­ti­fic­a­tion sub­mit­ted to a for­eign au­thor­ity may be of use for the pur­poses of a Swiss no­ti­fic­a­tion.

² It shall ar­range for the pub­lic­a­tion of the no­ti­fic­a­tion forms and ex­plan­at­ory notes in the Fed­er­al Gaz­ette

Pri­or to the no­ti­fic­a­tion, the Sec­ret­ari­at and the no­ti­fy­ing un­der­tak­ing may mu­tu­ally agree on the de­tails of the con­tent of the no­ti­fic­a­tion. In do­ing so, the Sec­ret­ari­at may grant an ex­emp­tion from the duty to sub­mit par­tic­u­lar in­form­a­tion or doc­u­ments if it is of the opin­ion that such in­form­a­tion is not re­quired for the as­sess­ment of the case.

The Sec­ret­ari­at shall con­firm to the no­ti­fy­ing un­der­tak­ing that it has re­ceived the no­ti­fic­a­tion. In cases where the in­form­a­tion or doc­u­ment­a­tion is in­com­plete on any ma­ter­i­al point, the Sec­ret­ari­at shall re­quest the no­ti­fy­ing un­der­tak­ing to amend the no­ti­fic­a­tion.

If the un­der­tak­ing has not been in­formed of the open­ing of pro­ceed­ings un­der Art­icles 26 to 30 Car­tel Act with­in five months of re­ceipt of the no­ti­fic­a­tion, any sanc­tion pur­su­ant to Art­icle 49a para­graph 1 Car­tel Act shall be waived in re­spect of the no­ti­fied facts.

This Or­din­ance comes in­to force on 1 April 2004.