Cartel, unilateral conduct, and merger investigations resulted in economic profits.
On 19 March, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) issued a working paper produced by the Department of Economic Studies (DEE) that details the expected benefits of the authority’s performance in the investigations of anticompetitive conducts and merger reviews concluded in 2024.
In the 7th edition, the document estimates that, in 2024, CADE’s activities totalled BRL 3.9 billion in benefits. Mergers represented about BRL 2.6 billion of this total amount. Slaughtering of cattle, drywall, exploration and production of petroleum, and boPET films were the most prominent markets in the transactions that resulted in the funds disclosed. While cartel investigations generated BRL 1.3 billion in benefits, unilateral conduct cases summed up to about BRL 38.8 million. In addition, the moving average of the benefits accrued from the activities over the past three years (2022 to 2024) was BRL 12.6 billion.
CADE imposed fines related to anticompetitive conducts of around BRL 302.8 million during 2024.
"The figures show that this performance goes far beyond the imposition of financial penalties, including activities that benefit society even more,"
said CADE in a press release.
The study is an important instrument to align CADE with other antitrust authorities worldwide, which often evaluate the impact of their performances and disclose it to society. Besides, it is in accordance with the recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Department of Economic Studies publishes the working papers to disclose preliminary results of economic studies related to CADE's fields of activity to improve the reviews of mergers and acquisitions, help the investigations of anticompetitive practices, and also promote competition advocacy in public and private sectors.
"The authority aims to improve the reviews, in addition to providing more visibility to the work of CADE’s technical team and of specialists involved with related topics. The working papers share ideas and collect comments and critics from the scientific community before they are released,"
noted CADE.
Source: Gov.br
