[Applause]
hello everybody
comm co finds risen Construction
Companies BMW find 157 million Swiss
francs the competition watchdog finds
car leasing companies you can tell I'm
not a journalist that didn't make up
those headlines such are the headlines
that you could read in the last few
years in the newspapers clear in
television I'm here to tell you the
story of the years of work that stand
behind those headlines I'm here to tell
you about the everyday life of the
people investigating those cases give
you an insight into their lives and
inside that you can't find in any
textbook now my story starts on a cold
and rain of Ember morning in 2018 in
Zurich I'm standing in front of a
building very tall building two armed
police officers standing next to me an
IT specialist and another lawyer
colleague of mine we're about to enter
the halls of one of the biggest
financial institutions of the world in a
few minutes time I'm going to inform the
representatives of this company the
Swiss Competition Commission has opened
investigation against the company I'm
going further on to explain that we're
gonna go into their rooms we're gonna
look through their offices we're gonna
look through their smartphones computers
check out their personal notes we're
going to the drawers we're even gonna go
into wastepaper bins and check them out
you won't believe what you can find in
wastepaper bins and as you can imagine
company representatives feeling mentally
enthusiastic about having a low
competition enforcement team in there
officer
you know you're immediately scored
points own again and damn well this of
course you have to this reason you have
to be prepared to confront a somehow
hostile attitude of the crowd you're
working with and this paired with your
own expectation that you really would
like to perform well you'd like to nail
it as my kids would say because you're a
representative and authority and that's
the face you're giving to this Authority
leads to certain pressure and even if
they're well I daresay experienced law
enforcement man I can I still get a
little nervous and even though I know my
business I know what I'm doing
there's still this adrenaline rush going
through your veins so sometimes you
might ask yourself why am I putting
myself through this I'm not doing this
and that's let's take a short break from
a story now why do we actually go
through this why do we actually enforce
competition law it's not obvious is it
now competition is omnipresent in our
everyday life think of the recent Rugby
World Cup in Japan 20 teams competed to
win the World Cup title
unfortunately for England they didn't
make it though there we go I'm
heartbroken right there we go
think about you as a student or your
fellow students you all try to excel in
your studies in order to have better
opportunities or a job later on you're
competing think about driving companies
making advertisements and televisions
magazines online in order to track
clients they're competing a CEO of a
leading cosmetic firm once told us when
we asked him how do you attract clients
told us quote or warned us we sell
dreams
imagine if rugby teams were to fix the
result of a match beforehand imagine a
privileged group of students were given
top grades before they have even written
their exam and imagine rivaling
companies going together and agree with
each other at what price they're going
to sell their dreams where you
instinctively think well that's not off
that's not good it's not wrong that's
wrong don't find it fair we believe
instinctively well everybody should have
to give their best in order to achieve
their aim now the competition law has
very much the same approach it goes
there saying everybody needs to do their
best in order to get the best result
competition law acts on the assumption
that if firms compete and I'm talking
now only about firms because the
competition law does not enforce
competition between students or
competition between rugby teams
obviously but it does so for firms Adam
tries to enforce those companies have to
really give their best to get the best
prices the best quality of goods you
guessed most innovation get the highest
productivity out of these companies that
leads to a result that gives the best
competitors of our national economy
ultimately right and that is why very
basically why we all put ourselves
through those sometimes uncomfortable
situations and force competition now one
little back thought I wanted to give it
you as well is what are the effects if
competition does not work properly let's
put an example a public a public entity
wants to public contractor who wants to
build a motorway for example
it will publish its intention invite all
Construction Companies to bringing in an
offer so that the best company can
achieve the contract that's competition
now what happens if those companies meet
together before hunt secretly without
this public entity knowing and agree on
who is going to win the bid and at what
price is gonna do competition doesn't
work and now the outcome unsurprisingly
as you might find is that it leads to
prices that may be higher 25% to 35% as
we have been able to observe above the
competitive level of prices now you as a
taxpayer you kind of pay for this or you
as a consumer you're gonna pay for this
that's one other very good reason I've
enforced this competition now let's come
back to our story now bit more action we
now settled in this room that we fended
we talked to the company representatives
we filled them in about the reason of
our visit and before they raised their
eyebrows higher and higher we go over to
explain to them where I explain to them
the possibility to bring in a leniency
application now what isn't leniency
application the CEO asked me and I'm
going on well a leniency application
gives your company the possibility to
bring forward information about a
possible cartel that you might have been
involved in you bring us the facts if
you bring us the evidence that we can
pin bound this case we can sanction the
members of a cartel you go free of the
sanction you enjoy full immunity since
we declare or open investigations at the
same time simultaneously several
companies and we tell them all the same
story about lenient applications
people get a bit stressed out because
they need to rush they need to get to be
the first who wants to apply for
leniency application I'll tell you why
because number two cannot enjoy full
immunity but only 50% at max of a sat of
a reduction of this sanction and you
have to bear in mind that the sanctions
that we give can rise up to ten percent
of the turnover of the company in the
last three business years of the cartel
that can be a pretty hefty sanction now
of course the CEO gets very interested
he likes leniency applications all of a
sudden I then call in the team and a
search team now comes in okay a new
match and they're all coming in with
their suitcases and everything there
starts start not to fool around they're
not going like this Yvette's they're
starting to starting to look through all
their stuff personal affairs of their of
the people involved they're not liking
it
obviously they don't like it it's human
it's normal now 1% if he gets stressed
out it gets really nervous he watches
every step that accompany represent if
that's our agency representative make he
watches every move they make he
criticizes every breath they take that's
the moment when I have to step in I have
to take months I say listen sir I
understand very well you're a bit
excited this is her unusual situation
I'm fully on unaware that's that this is
stressful however there is no possible
factual or legal way to stop us from
doing what we're doing this is actually
going to happen accept the facts it is
worth mentioning at this moment there
are two options to go on about a dawn
raid option one you any colleagues you
cooperate and by the end of the day
we'll be out the house option number two
you continue to interfere with our work
put us behind schedule
and we will take as long as it takes
where the dies two days three days four
days five days a week we're gonna finish
our jobs I promise
how the choice is all yours well you can
imagine that that calms people down and
they start to cooperate a little bit now
let's leave this situation of the dawn
rate let's go away from the dawn rate
because simultaneously there's a whole
bunch of india's happening and we also
need to interview people likewise the
other representatives really liking it
and now you have to make those people
talk so how are you gonna do this it's
set in front of someone who thinks like
you're not my best mate so what we would
like to achieve is to talk to those
people and and half a free giving report
now I have to make a distinction between
two sorts of people that were actually
interviewing one sort are the
investigated companies the accused those
companies at the outset of the entry we
inform that they have a right to remain
silent any information to give us we may
use in a court of law they can half
dissidents of an attorney attorneys can
talk to them before the end q he can
followed you the whole into you and you
can even ask questions by the end of
didn't you those are the investigators
companies the other type of into you we
make o witnesses witnesses don't have a
right to remain silent
they must give evidence and they must
tell the truth if they don't tell the
truth that's a criminal offense in
Switzerland and you can be punished with
fines or even imprisonment as you can
imagine we like to interview people who
have to tell the truth that is why now
at the moment there is one important
question pending at court and that is
whether company representatives or
former company
representatives can be interviewed as
clients right now margin we've done all
of this Donna the owner 8 12 13 of them
we made extensive inches in some cases
70 inches in a case we have analyzed all
electronic data we have gone through all
the documents that we seized it takes us
months and months to do that sometimes
years now we've gathered all that
evidence what we do we reach the
conclusion of our gathering of the
evidence we do we write a report an
extensive report my longest did together
as a working colleague was 700 pages
took us a while and we write down the
fact include the evidence the applicable
law and the conclusions that we draw
from all of this now the parties have
the opportunity to give in their point
of view they can give a written
statement and tell basically the
Competition Commission that all we've
written it's a lot of lies and that
we're incompetent and that's usually
what their rights with no idea we're
lazy were ugly and whatever you know you
name it and and we sent them this this
report together with the response after
parties to the Competition Commission
now the Competition Commission is going
to reach now it's worded and this
verdict can be appealed at the federal
EMA straight of code and you can
ultimately appeal that at the Swiss
Federal Supreme Court as you can imagine
all of those procedures take a lot of
stamina yes of hard work years of
frustration to get to this point where
you actually finish the case but I can
assure you we're fully committed and
we're fully willing and dedicated
to finish that work because we know
instinctively or in accordance with our
instinct since I should say the law
competition law wants to enforce so that
companies don't come together secretly
and make agreements upon the prizes the
quality and innovative character of our
dreams thank you very much
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