3. Antitrust & Competition
  5. Colombia regulates the Leniency Program for transnational bribery and corruption

Colombia regulates the Leniency Program for transnational bribery and corruption

25 Apr 2024    2 minute read

In brief

On 21 March 2024, the National Government issued the Decree 390 of 2024 (“Decree”), by which it established the procedure for granting the Leniency Program in transnational bribery and corruption (“Leniency Program”) matters.

Under the Leniency Program, it is possible to obtain full or partial immunity from possible sanctions for corruption and transnational bribery. In order to obtain the benefits of the Leniency Program, the company must provide relevant information on the aspects of the commission of such acts and the benefits obtained.

Contents

Key points

The Decree provides that the information to be provided to obtain the Leniency Program must:

  1. In the case of transnational bribery:  be submitted by (i) the company's legal representative, (ii)  its attorney; or (iii) any third party that demonstrates a legitimate interest in obtaining the Leniency Program. Likewise, the request must include: (i) the individuals involved in the conduct and their relationship to the company; (ii) the context of the facts; (iii) the foreign public official bribed; (iv) the thing of value offered, promised or delivered; (v) the purpose sought and obtained; (vi) the benefit obtained; (vii) the arguments and evidence for obtaining the Leniency Program; and (viii) inform whether the company has exercised the rights or fulfilled the obligations arising from the conduct.
  2. In the case of corrupt practices (other than transnational bribery): must provide the following information: (i) identify the individual associated with the company with a criminal conviction or with a collaboration agreement with the Attorney General's Office for the facts; (ii) know the context of the facts; (iii) identify the benefit sought or received by the company; (iv) verify how the company consented to or tolerated the conduct; and (v) provide the arguments and evidence to obtain the Leniency Program.
  3. The request for Leniency Program may be made until the expiry of the time limit for filing a brief of defense in an administrative proceeding before the Division of Economic and Corporate Affairs of the Superintendence of Companies (“Division”) and must be addressed to said Division. In the case of a conduct involving more than one infringing company, the request submitted first shall be given priority. The order of receipt of the requests and the timeliness within (or before) the administrative procedure will be taken into account to determine the percentage of exoneration that may be recognized with respect to the sanctions to be imposed.
  4. The granting of the Leniency Program will result in the termination of the administrative proceedings, with respect to the company receiving the Leniency Program, and may continue with respect to other involved companies.

Additional information

For more detail, the Decree can be consulted in the following link.

Spanish version

Contact Information
Carolina Pardo
Partner
Bogota
Read my Bio
carolina.pardo@bakermckenzie.com
Angélica Navarro
Partner
Bogota
Read my Bio
angelica.navarro@bakermckenzie.com
Carlos Arboleda
Associate
Bogota
Read my Bio
carlos.arboleda@bakermckenzie.com
Luis Castell
Associate
Bogota
Read my Bio
luis.castell@bakermckenzie.com
Paula Galvis
Associate
Bogota
Read my Bio
paula.galvis@bakermckenzie.com

Copyright © 2024 Baker & McKenzie. All rights reserved. Ownership: This documentation and content (Content) is a proprietary resource owned exclusively by Baker McKenzie (meaning Baker & McKenzie International and its member firms). The Content is protected under international copyright conventions. Use of this Content does not of itself create a contractual relationship, nor any attorney/client relationship, between Baker McKenzie and any person. Non-reliance and exclusion: All Content is for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal and regulatory developments. All summaries of the laws, regulations and practice are subject to change. The Content is not offered as legal or professional advice for any specific matter. It is not intended to be a substitute for reference to (and compliance with) the detailed provisions of applicable laws, rules, regulations or forms. Legal advice should always be sought before taking any action or refraining from taking any action based on any Content. Baker McKenzie and the editors and the contributing authors do not guarantee the accuracy of the Content and expressly disclaim any and all liability to any person in respect of the consequences of anything done or permitted to be done or omitted to be done wholly or partly in reliance upon the whole or any part of the Content. The Content may contain links to external websites and external websites may link to the Content. Baker McKenzie is not responsible for the content or operation of any such external sites and disclaims all liability, howsoever occurring, in respect of the content or operation of any such external websites. Attorney Advertising: This Content may qualify as “Attorney Advertising” requiring notice in some jurisdictions. To the extent that this Content may qualify as Attorney Advertising, PRIOR RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE A SIMILAR OUTCOME. Reproduction: Reproduction of reasonable portions of the Content is permitted provided that (i) such reproductions are made available free of charge and for non-commercial purposes, (ii) such reproductions are properly attributed to Baker McKenzie, (iii) the portion of the Content being reproduced is not altered or made available in a manner that modifies the Content or presents the Content being reproduced in a false light and (iv) notice is made to the disclaimers included on the Content. The permission to re-copy does not allow for incorporation of any substantial portion of the Content in any work or publication, whether in hard copy, electronic or any other form or for commercial purposes.

HighQ
Copyright Baker McKenzie 2024 | Disclaimers | Supplemental Privacy Statement