Guidelines for Cade's Antritrust Leniency Program

On 25 May 2016, after public consultation, the Tribunal of Cade ratified the Guidelines for Cade's Antitrust Leniency Program. The document includes the best practices on the matter and the procedures generally adopted by the Office of the Superintendent General in negotiating and executing leniency agreements. On 23 June of the same year, the authority published an English version of the document.

Laid out in a Q&A format, the publication intends to provide more transparency about leniency agreement negotiations, preserve the authority's institutional memory, and serve as a reference for future negotiations.

In September 2017, the guidelines introduced a section on leniency for international cartel cases and added further information on applying for leniency plus.

CADE updated its guidelines again in December 2021 after amending its Statutes and implementing the Clique Leniência Platform.

The updated version modified provisions about the leniency programme and included a new electronic application form, introducing a more straightforward, secure and practical way to request a leniency marker.

In September 2021, CADE launched the guide Parameters for Submitting Evidence in Leniency Applications to support the government in assessing reported antitrust violations, containing guidance on the parameters of evidence accepted in leniency agreements.

It resulted from the evidence admitted in cartel cases adjudicated by the Tribunal of CADE over the last 27 years and includes excerpts from the Tribunal's decisions.

Additionally, the publication is an invaluable reference for applicants willing to conduct internal investigations. Furthermore, it provides advice on developing more effective compliance programmes.