The Monopolies Division is responsible for investigating:

• Agreements that may have anti-competitive effects but are not considered to be hard-core cartels.  For example, agreements between manufacturers and distributors of their products, or between distributors and retailers, can sometimes be found to be anti-competitive and be in breach of section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 and Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, formerly Article 81 of the EU Treaty.
• Allegations that undertakings have abused a dominant position in a sector of the economy.  Holding a dominant position does not break the law.  However, abusing your dominant position can be a breach of competition law, for example by exploiting your position to stifle competition or attempting to eliminate your competitors or prevent new competitors emerging. Abusing a dominant position is illegal under section 5 of the Competition Act 2002 and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, formerly Article 82 of the EU Treaty

Where we form the view that competition law has been breached we can take legal proceedings to compel parties to stop their illegal activity. Such proceedings are generally brought in the civil court, through the High Court (see civil court cases). However, criminal proceedings may be appropriate depending on the circumstances of each case.

Often we settle a case without going to the courts. This settlement might occur after we threaten legal proceedings, or sooner during an investigation when the parties realise and acknowledge that their behaviour is in breach of competition law. The outcome is that parties give undertakings to remedy their anti-competitive behaviour (see closed investigations).

Reporting anti-competitive behaviour

If you wish to report anti-competitive behaviour, please contact us.

Guidance

Because many of these matters involve complex legal and economic issues, the Monopolies Division also publishes guidance for businesses on how to comply with competition law. We do this through the publication of Decision Notes or Guidance Notices; these are for guidance only and are not legally binding. 
    
Declarations

We can also issue declarations that certain categories of agreements, if they comply with certain conditions, are not prohibited by section 4 of the Competition Act 2002.