January 24, 2023 – Wednesday 2 – 3:30 pm

The Place and Changing Role of the Competition Authority’s On-Site Inspections in Companies’ Compliance Policies and Cultures Webinar

Due to the fact that the detection of competition law violations is relatively difficult by nature and requires economic analysis, competition authorities in many different jurisdictions have been granted broad powers of examination and investigation. In Turkey, the Competition Authority is authorized to collect information and documents in order to reveal violations of competition law by conducting on-site investigations in terms of the implementation of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition.

The accelerated digitalization of all sectors and the increasing awareness of competition law over time have differentiated the ways in which competition law violations occur. In parallel with this process of change, the Competition Authority’s on-site investigation powers and practices have also expanded and changed over time. In recent years, the Competition Authority has significantly increased both its human resources and forensic IT capacity, and expanded the methods and forensic IT capabilities it utilizes in on-site inspections.

This has, on the one hand, served to increase the infringement detection rate of the Competition Authority within the scope of changing industry structures and business practices, and, on the other hand, has inevitably elevated the priority of competition law in the compliance policies and strategies of companies. Nevertheless, it is observed that, especially in the process of change, companies face various problems while adapting to the new legal practices they encounter, and therefore, the administrative sanctions they face due to the prevention/difficulty of on-site inspecitons have recently become more frequent.

In light of all these developments, the webinar will discuss the Competition Authority’s powers and current practices regarding on-site inspections, the areas of responsibility of in-house legal and compliance managers, and suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of compliance activities. In addition, we will discuss how in-house compliance programs can be designed to manage the legal risks faced due to competition law violations as well as the Competition Authority’s own on-site inspections, how to integrate the basic principles adopted at the management level into the company’s compliance culture, and the importance of other departments that play a role outside the legal and compliance departments.