Korea shares case on LTV information-exchange cartel sanctions with international community; bid-rigging detection system and digital competition policy also discussed

Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Ju Byung-ki introduced the country's plans to reform its cartel regulations — including abolishing the cap on whistleblower reward payments — at the OECD Competition Committee's regular session.

The Fair Trade Commission said Friday that Ju attended the OECD Competition Committee's regular session held in Paris from June 22 through July 5.

Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Ju Byung-ki speaks with Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office, on the sidelines of the OECD Competition Committee's regular session held in Paris from June 22 for five days. [Korea Fair Trade Commission]
Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Ju Byung-ki speaks with Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office, on the sidelines of the OECD Competition Committee's regular session held in Paris from June 22 for five days. [Korea Fair Trade Commission]

At the session, Ju introduced improvements to the whistleblower reward system that took effect June 18, aimed at encouraging insiders to report cartel activity. He said the commission had abolished the payment ceiling and unified the reward rate at up to 10 percent of the surcharge imposed, strengthening incentives for reporting large-scale cartels.

Ju also said the commission is reviewing plans to reform the leniency program for companies that voluntarily come forward after a cartel investigation has begun. He outlined proposals to differentiate the level of surcharge reductions granted before and after an investigation opens — to better incentivize early reporting — and to abolish reductions on corrective measures.

The commission also shared enforcement cases involving anticompetitive information exchanges. Ju presented the case of four major commercial banks sanctioned in January for exchanging loan-to-value ratio information, saying the banks had shared LTV data that influenced loan amounts and interest rates, effectively reducing competitive pressure in the mortgage market by mimicking each other's lending strategies. He said the case marked the first application of information-exchange cartel provisions under the Fair Trade Act revised in 2021.

Bae Moon-seong, head of the FTC's bid-rigging investigation division, presented the commission's work in the public procurement sector. He introduced the Bid Rigging Indicators Analysis System, known as BRIAS, which analyzes bidding data from 1,042 institutions to detect signs of collusion, and highlighted the results of an interagency council on bid rigging that includes major bodies such as the Public Procurement Service, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Korea Electric Power.

A roundtable on digital market competition policy examined issues surrounding algorithm-based personalized services, self-preferencing and bundling from the perspectives of competition and consumer protection. The FTC highlighted key cases in which it has enforced competition and consumer protection policies in a coordinated manner, drawing on its mandate to oversee both areas.

Ju also attended the OECD Competition Committee bureau meeting and the International Competition Network board meeting during the session. He held bilateral talks with Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office; Nuno Cunha Rodrigues, president of Portugal's Competition Authority; and Wakabayashi Arisa, standing commissioner of Japan's Fair Trade Commission, sharing updates on major competition policies and enforcement activities and reaffirming their commitment to interagency cooperation.


y2k@heraldcorp.com