Revealed: What DOJ Will Accept For An Antitrust Compliance Program

In a recent antitrust case, a Japan-based manufacturer got a big reduction in its antitrust fine – by tens of millions of dollars – on the basis of a rigorous antitrust compliance program it devised after it pled guilty to charges. A post from DLA Piper takes a close look at this program and suggests that it – along with some explicit comments from a DOJ antitrust official – are a good guide to what any company at risk for antitrust problems can and should do. The program in this case (which involved the Japanese company Kayaba, a manufacturer of shock absorbers) went way past generalities and even such familiar components as “hotlines,” although it included them, to such things as one-on-one training for sales people and the reporting of all contacts with competitors, reports to be audited by in-house counsel.