📅 On Friday 𝟐𝟎 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞, the 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐁𝐂𝐀) published an 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. These new guidelines replace those in place since 2013 and codify the BCA’s current practices.

🛡️Notably, the update includes 𝐆𝐃𝐏𝐑-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 of dawn raids — a key consideration for compliance teams.

🏠 However, the guidelines 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 the impact of
𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, such as:
• The likelihood of 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬
• Obligations of 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 during dawn raids

⚖️ Still, the updated guidelines serve as a 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 that the BCA is fully prepared to use 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 at its disposal — including dawn raids — emphasizing the need for companies to be 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝.

📄 You can check out the updated BCA dawn raid guidelines here in 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡.

𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

#belgiancompetitionauthority #BCA #dawnraids #competitionlaw #antitrust #lawfirm #contrastupdate