NNDKP Assisted a Major Insurance Company in the Competition Council’s Investigation of Large Insurance Companies in Romania
Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen announced that the Competition Council decided to close the investigation started in 2007 regarding the management fees on the market of mandatory private pensions fund management.
Following the investigation concerning the major insurance companies in Romania, the competition authority acknowledged the legitimacy of lobbying actions within the professional associations: “The Competition legislation does not prohibit lobbying activities”. The investigation involved numerous hearings and documents presenting complex legal and economic arguments.
Insurance companies belonging to the Romanian Pension Funds’ Association (APAPR) lobbied for the change of the legislation regulating the functioning of the new market, since the maximum management fee level provided by law was too low to allow competition on the market. The Competition Council investigated the conduct of companies from the perspective of an alleged concerted practice on the establishment of management fees.
As a result of the analysis of conditions under which the companies have decided to enter the market (especially decisions concerning the fees), the Competition Council concluded that there was no breach of Competition Law.
“We are pleased to see that the legitimacy of the insurance companies’ lobbying actions has been acknowledged. We also appreciate the recommendations proposed by the competition authority for the purpose of avoiding the competition risks in the exercise of the associations’ constitutional right to petition, in particular in terms of collecting and distributing information on the functioning of market”
states Georgeta Harapcea, Head of NNDKP’s Competition practice.
