Stručný průvodce antimonopolními předpisy

• You could go to jail for antitrust violations:
  Increasing number of countries worldwide with prison sentences average jail time in the U.S. (2010–2018): 19 months
• You could also suffer disciplinary sanctions for antitrust violations
• Siemens could be fined up to one billion EUR and more – ever increasing fines in more and more countries (nearly 140 competition authorities worldwide)
• Exclusion of the company from public tenders
• Private actions for damages against Siemens
• Reputational damage to Siemens

• Antitrust law protects free, undistorted and effective competition for the benefit of consumers, companies and society as a whole.
• Antitrust law prohibits agreements between companies that restrict competition, in particular price fixing, market or customer allocation, market sharing.
• Antitrust law also prohibits a dominant company (guideline: >30-50% market share) from abusing its strong market position.

• Do not speak with competitors unless (1) you have a compelling business reason and (2) you can be sure that there are no antitrust issues. If you have any doubts, seek prior advice from Legal and Compliance. Produce a written record of the conversation.
• You must adhere to all applicable antitrust rules. This includes complying with the Dos and Don'ts. If in doubt, please contact Legal and Compliance.
• All (possible) breaches of antitrust law must be reported! You can use any of the following reporting options:
  • Contact us
  • Line managers
  • Legal and Compliance
  • Chief Counsel Competition (LC CMA CMP)
  • Compliance Investigations and Regulatory (LC CO IR)

Consult Legal and Compliance to assess the legality of any contacts with competitors (prior to initiating such contacts).

If a business partner suggests certain conduct or provides you with information or documents that give rise to antitrust concerns, terminate the discussion immediately and inform your business partner that you cannot continue the discussion. Prepare a file note and immediately inform Legal and Compliance.

If you have been sent documents that give rise to antitrust concerns, do not distribute the documents further but speak with Legal and Compliance and return the documents.

Only participate in trade association meetings if a written invitation and agenda have been provided, trade association representatives are present and minutes are being taken.

In the event of an antitrust dawn raid, you must immediately contact Legal and Compliance (in your region/ your OpCo or StratCo as well as LC CMA CMP and LC CO IR in the Corporate Headquarters).

Ask Legal and Compliance to assess the following company cooperation projects that may restrict competition:

• Consortia
• Joint research and development
• Specialization/joint production
• Standardization
• Joint purchasing
• Exclusive distribution/exclusive purchasing
• Market information systems/benchmarking
• Exclusivity arrangements and territorial restrictions in distribution and licensing agreements

Contact Legal and Compliance if in any doubt about certain conduct.

Do not speak with competitors, particularly in informal settings, unless

1. you have a compelling reason, and
2. you can be sure that there are no antitrust issues.

Even if you have a compelling reason for being in contact with a competitor, do not speak about:

• Prices, rebates and other terms of trade
• Market sharing, allocation of customers and territories
• Portfolio elements and innovation
• Offers or project tenders as well as conduct during tenders
• Limiting production, investment

Do not speak with customers, distributors or suppliers about

• Complying with minimum resale prices. By contrast, it is often permitted to make non-binding recommendations, i.e. recommending resale prices without pressure or incentives. It is also generally permitted to set maximum resale prices.
• Blocking exports or reimports.

Where Siemens has a potentially dominant position (guideline: >30–50% market share) the following activities should not be undertaken without seeking prior advice from Legal Competition (LC CMA CMP):

• Exclusivity agreements or fidelity rebates
• Excessive or predatory pricing
• Tying of a product where Siemens has a strong market position with another product
• Discrimination (unless objectively justified, e.g. different end customer prices based on volume rebates)
• Refusal to supply or to license (without objective justification)