Sustainability and Competition Global Practice Guide |
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Colombia |
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(Latin America/Caribbean)
Firm
Brigard Urrutia
Contributors
Alejandro Garcia de Brigard |
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| Are ESG measures/sustainability agreements included in your jurisdictional competition regime? | No. ESG measures/sustainability agreements are not included in the colombian competition regime. |
| If ESG measures/sustainability agreements are not included in your jurisdictional competition regime, do you foresee any new regulations coming into place in 2022? | We do not foresee any new regulations coming into place in 2022. The nearest precedent we are aware of is a bill, introduced in early 2022 which was not brought to the floor of the Chamber or the Senate for debate. The bill intended to introduce amendments to unfair competition/trade laws with the purpose of creating a new cause of action resulting from the appropriation of traditional, ethnic or collective knowledge or property. |
| Has your Authority issued any guidance on the role, if any, of ESG in the competition law analysis applied to mergers or other conduct? | No. The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (“SIC”) has not issued any guidance on the role of ESG in the competition law analysis applied to mergers or other conducts. |
| Has your jurisdiction issued guidance regarding competitor collaborations or participating in industry working groups, and if so, do they specifically address ESG? | The SIC has issued guidelines for both competitor collaborations (“Handbook on the Application of Antitrust Laws to Cooperation Agreements Amongst Competitors”) and participation in industry working groups (“Handbook on the Application of Antitrust Laws to Trade Associations or Professional Associations”). Neither addresses ESG. |
| Can parties seek specific guidance from authorities on proposed ESG initiatives? | While there is ample room for informal consultation with the SIC, there is no formal consultation mechanism on proposed ESG initiatives. Also, currently, there are no internal ESG capabilities within the SIC. |
| How, if at all, does your jurisdiction quantify or calculate the ESG effects? | The SIC does not currently quantify or calculate ESG effects. |
| What does your legal authority currently permit even if your agency is not yet active on this topic? | Current legal authority does not allow for the SIC to take ESG criteria into consideration. Under existing law, the only criteria the SIC may use to determine when reviewing a given transaction is whether there will be a negative impact on competition. That being said, while any final decision has to be based on impact on competition, the SIC -arguably- has the authority to either amend its own merger control regulations to require parties to include additional information (including ESG-related information) as part of a standard filing or to ask for additional information so via RFIs. |
| Are there precedents that involved ESG/sustainability matters in your country? If so please provide a short description. | No, there are no precedents involving ESG/sustainability in competition matters. |
| Is there specific antitrust regulation in your jurisdiction to be aware of which might give rise to private or class action ESG litigation? | No, there is no specific antitrust regulation in Colombia that might give rise to private or class action ESG litigation. However, generally applicable laws on private damages or class actions could theoretically be used to bring antitrust-related cases with ESG connections, particularly when it comes to damages to communities or consumers. |
Sustainability and Competition Global Practice Guide
Colombia
(Latin America/Caribbean) Firm Brigard UrrutiaContributors Alejandro Garcia de Brigard
Updated 06 Sep 2022No. ESG measures/sustainability agreements are not included in the colombian competition regime.
We do not foresee any new regulations coming into place in 2022. The nearest precedent we are aware of is a bill, introduced in early 2022 which was not brought to the floor of the Chamber or the Senate for debate. The bill intended to introduce amendments to unfair competition/trade laws with the purpose of creating a new cause of action resulting from the appropriation of traditional, ethnic or collective knowledge or property.
No. The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (“SIC”) has not issued any guidance on the role of ESG in the competition law analysis applied to mergers or other conducts.
The SIC has issued guidelines for both competitor collaborations (“Handbook on the Application of Antitrust Laws to Cooperation Agreements Amongst Competitors”) and participation in industry working groups (“Handbook on the Application of Antitrust Laws to Trade Associations or Professional Associations”). Neither addresses ESG.
While there is ample room for informal consultation with the SIC, there is no formal consultation mechanism on proposed ESG initiatives. Also, currently, there are no internal ESG capabilities within the SIC.
The SIC does not currently quantify or calculate ESG effects.
Current legal authority does not allow for the SIC to take ESG criteria into consideration. Under existing law, the only criteria the SIC may use to determine when reviewing a given transaction is whether there will be a negative impact on competition.
That being said, while any final decision has to be based on impact on competition, the SIC -arguably- has the authority to either amend its own merger control regulations to require parties to include additional information (including ESG-related information) as part of a standard filing or to ask for additional information so via RFIs.
No, there are no precedents involving ESG/sustainability in competition matters.
No, there is no specific antitrust regulation in Colombia that might give rise to private or class action ESG litigation.
However, generally applicable laws on private damages or class actions could theoretically be used to bring antitrust-related cases with ESG connections, particularly when it comes to damages to communities or consumers.