B 2022
L.N. 264 of 2021
COMPETITION ACT
(CAP. 379)
Immunity from Penalties and Redu ction of Penalties in Cartel 
Investigations Regulations
IN EXERCISE of the powers conf erred by articles 33(2)(c) and
(d) of the Competition Act, the Minister responsible for touris m and
consumer protection, following consultation with the Board of
Governors of the Malta Competiti on and Consumer Affairs Authori ty,
has made the following regulations:-
Title. 1. The title of these regulations is the Immunity from
Penalties and Reduction of Penal ties in Cartel Investigations
Regulations, 2021.
Interpretation. 2. (1) For the purposes of these regulations, unless the
context otherwise requires:
" "the Act" means th e Competition Act:
 "applicant" means an undertaking within the meaning of
article 2 of the Act which is party to an alleged secret cartel ,
including participants in a cartel, whether or not active on th e
same market, which c ontributes to the imple mentation of a carte l
in a subsidiary, accessory or passive role, and which,independently of the other undertakings involved in the cartel,
applies for immunity from penalties and, or a reduction of
penalties in exchange for t he voluntary provision of
presentations regardi ng its knowledge of and role in the allege d
secret cartel by submitting a leniency application to the Direc tor
General:
   Provided that the term "applicant" shall also include
an association of undertakings  which performs an economic
activity on its own behalf where  it participates in an alleged
secret cartel on its own behalf  and not on behalf of its member s;
"cartel" means an agreement or concerted practice between
two or more competitors aimed at coordinating their competitive
behaviour on the market or influencing the relevant parameters
of competition, through practices  such as, but not limited to, the
fixing or coordination of purchas e or selling prices or other
trading conditions, including in r elation to intellectual prope rty
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rights, the allocation of production or sales quotas, the shari ng of
markets and customers, includi ng bid-rigging, restrictions of
imports or exports or anti-compe titive actions against other
competitors;
"Directive" means Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 to empowerthe competition authorities of the Member States to be more
effective enforcers, and to ensure the proper functioning of th e
internal market;
 "inspection" means an inspe ction under articl e 12(7) of the
Act;
"leniency" means immunity fro m penalties or a reduction in
the amount of the penalty whic h would otherwise have been
requested by the Director General to be imposed on anundertaking on account of its pa rticipation in a secret cartel,  in
order to reward it for its cooperation with the Office within t he
framework of these regulations;
"leniency application" means an application for leniency
which is submitted to the Direct or General and consists of a
leniency statement made by the applicant and any pre-existinginformation submitted with or attached to it;
"leniency statement" means an oral or written presentation
voluntarily provided by, or on behalf of an undertaking to the
Director General, or a record t hereof, describing the knowledge
of that undertaking of an allege d secret cartel and describing its
role therein, which presentati on was drawn up specifically for
submission to the Office under these regulations, with a view t o
obtaining immunity from or a reduction of penalties, not
including evidence that exists irrespective of the investigatio n by
the Office, whether or otherwi se such information is found in t he
file of the Office, namel y pre-existing information;
  "penalties" means any penalt y that may be imposed by the
Court in terms of artic le 21(1) of the Act;
"secret cartel" means a carte l the existence of which is
partially or wholly concealed, i n particular whereby elements o f
the cartel that make the full extent of the conduct more diffic ult
to detect are not known to the public or the customers or
suppliers"."
(2) Other terms used in these regulations shall have the same
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meaning as assigned t o them in the Act.
Scope of these 
regulations.3. (1) These regulations transpo se the provisions of Chapter
VI of Directive (EU) 2019/1 of t he European Parliament and of t he
Council of 11 December 2018 to em power the competition authorit ies
of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensu re the
proper functioning of the internal market. 
(2) These regulations provide  for a leniency programme in
relation to the application of article 5 of the Act and, or of Article 101
of the TFEU, on the basis of which a participant in an alleged secret
cartel, independently of the ot her undertakings involved in the  cartel,
cooperates with an investigati on of the Office by voluntarily p roviding
presentations regarding that par ticipant’s knowledge of and rol e in the
alleged cartel, in return for whi ch the participant receives im munity
from, or a reduction of, penaltie s which would otherwise have b een
requested by the Director General  to be imposed by the Court in  terms
of article 21(1) of the Act on acc ount of its involvement in th e cartel. 
(3) These regulations s hall only apply to sec ret cartels, and an y
reference to a "cartel" in these regulations shall be construed
accordingly.
Coercer not 
eligible for 
immunity from 
penalties.4. (1) Any undertaking which fulfils the conditions laid
down in regulation 5(1) shall be eligible for immunity from pen alties,
with the exception of undertakings that have taken steps to coe rce
other undertakings to join a secr et cartel or to remain in it. 
(2) Notwithstanding the pr eceding sub-regulation, an
undertaking that took steps to coerce other undertakings to joi n a
secret cartel or to remain in it  shall not be excluded from ben efiting
from a reduction of penalties. 
Immunity from 
penalties.5. (1) The Director General shall grant immunity from
penalties by refraining from requesting the Court to impose a p enalty
on an applicant for leniency in terms of article 12A of the Act  which
discloses its participation in a secret cartel to the Office wh ere the
following conditions are met:
(a) the applicant is the fir st to submit evidence which:
(i) at the time the Office receives the leniency
application, enables the Direct or General to file a request
for a warrant in terms of article 12(7) of the Act to carry outa targeted inspection in conne ction with the alleged secret
cartel, provided that the Director General did not yet have
in his possession sufficient e vidence to file a request for
such a warrant, or had not already carried out such an
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inspection; or
(ii) in the view of the Direct or General, is sufficient
for him to find an infringement of article 5 of the Act and,or of Article 101 of the TFEU in connection with the
alleged secret cartel, provided t hat the Director General did
not yet have in his possession sufficient evidence to findsuch an infringement and that no undertaking previously
qualified for immunity from penalties under the preceding
sub-paragraph in relation t o that secret cartel; and
(b) the applicant fulfils the conditions laid down in
regulation 10.
(2) An applicant who submits evidence to benefit from
immunity from penalti es in terms of the p receding sub-regulatio n shall
provide the Director General with such evidence to the extent t hat this,
in the view of the Director General, would not jeopardize the
inspections.
(3) The decision of the Director  General to grant immunity
from penalties to an applicant fo r leniency who satisfies the c onditions
laid down in sub-regulation (1) shall be made exclusively on th e basis
of the type and quality of the evidence and information submitt ed by
the applicant, irrespective of w hether an inspection was actual ly
conducted or successful.
Only one 
applicant shall benefit from 
immunity from 
penalties.6. (1) Subject to the provision s of regulation 14, where
more than one applicant submits a leniency application, the Dir ector
General shall assess the applica tions in the order in which the y have
been submitted:
Provided that information s ubmitted in hypothetical terms
pursuant to regulation 16 shall not be eligible for any order o f
classification in terms of  this sub-regulation: 
Provided further that only the first applicant who fulfils the
conditions laid down in regulatio n 5(1) may benefit from immuni ty
from penalties.
(2) Where a leniency applicat ion meets the conditions for
immunity from penalties, any appl ications of other applicants s hall be
assessed in the order in which they have been submitted for a p ossible
reduction of penalties in accordance with the provisions of reg ulation
8, unless the applicant has speci fied that his application is t o be
considered exclusively for  immunity from penalties. 
(3) Where the Director General  rejects an application for
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immunity from penalties , the applicant con cerned may request th at the
Office considers its application as an application for a reduct ion of
penalties. 
Conditional 
immunity from 
penalties. 7. (1) Where the Director General receives a leniency
application, he shall promptly a ssess the evidence submitted in  support
of the application in order to ascertain whether the applicant satisfies
the conditions laid down in sub-paragraphs (i) or (ii) of parag raph (a)
of regulation 5(1).
 (2) If an applicant is the first to satisfy the conditions ref erred
to in the preceding sub-regulati on, the Director General shall grant the
applicant conditional i mmunity from penalties and shall refrain  from
considering any other applicati ons for immunity from penalties before
he would have taken a final decision on that application. The D irector
General shall verbally inform the applicant, as soon as reasona bly
possible, of whether he has been granted conditional immunity f rom
penalties, unless the applicant has requested that he shall be  informed
in writing.
(3) Subject to the first proviso  of sub-regulation (2) of regul ation
11, the granting of conditional immunity pursuant to the preced ing
sub-regulation shall provide assurance to the applicant that th e
Director General shall grant the  applicant immunity from penalt ies if,
at the end of the investigation, the Director General concludes  that the
applicant has also satisfied t he conditions set out in regulati on 10. 
Reduction of 
penalties.8. (1) Applicants who do not qualify for immunity from
penalties pursuant to regulation 5(1), may nonetheless benefit from a
reduction of penalties, subject t o the provisions of this regul ation. 
(2) In order to qualify  for a reduction of p enalties, an applica nt
for leniency shall:
(a) disclose his participati on in an alleged secret cartel;
 (b) submit evidence of the alleged secret cartel which, in
the view of the Director General, represents significant addedvalue for the purpose of proving an infringement of article 5 o f
the Act and, or of Article 101 of the TFEU to the evidence
already in the possession of the  Office at the time of the leni ency
application; and
(c) fulfil the conditions  laid down in regulation 10.
(3) For the purposes of paragr aph (b) of the preceding sub-
regulation, the Director Gen eral shall consider that:
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(a) written evidence originat ing from the period of time
to which the facts pertain shal l  h a v e  a  g r e a t e r  v a l u e  t h a n
evidence subsequently established;
(b) incriminating co mpelling evidence which is directly
relevant to the facts in questi on, such as written statements,
email correspondence between the cartel members and otherwritten documents relevant for th e establishment of the facts a nd
circumstances of the case and dur ation of a cartel, shall have a
greater value than evidence whic h is indirectly relevant; and
(c) compelling evidence shall have a greater value than
evidence such as statements of cartel members which ifcontested require  corroboration.
Levels of 
reduction. 9. (1) Where the Directo r General conclude s that a leniency
applicant qualifies for a reducti on of penalties pursuant to re gulation 8,
he shall in proceedings institute d pursuant to article 12A of t he Act
request the Court to impose a pe nalty of a specific amount on t he
applicant, calculated in accordance with article 21(1) of the A ct, which
shall be reduced in accordance w ith the following levels of red uction:
(a) for the first undertaking to provide significant added
value, a reduction of thirty t o fifty per centum (30-50%);
(b) for the second undertaking to provide significant
added value, a reduction of twenty to thirty per centum (20-
30%);
(c) for subsequent undertaki ngs that provide significant
added value, a reduction of up t o twenty per centum (20%):
Provided that in specific cases in which the added
value of the information or evi dence submitted by an applicant is
extraordinarily high, the Director General may, in his discreti on,
request the Court to impose a penalty which is reduced by a
higher percentage than the scal es specified in this sub-regulat ion. 
 (2) In order to determine the applicable level of reduction
within each range referred to in the preceding sub-regulation, the
Director General shall take into  account the time at which the evidence
referred to in paragraph (b) of  regulation 8(2) was submitted a nd the
extent to which that evidence re presents significant added valu e when
compared to the evidence which is already in the possession of the
Office at the time of the leniency application.
 (3) Where an applicant s ubmits compelling evidence as
referred to in regulation 8(3), which the Director General uses  to prove
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additional facts which lead to an  increase in the requested amo unt of
the penalties to be imposed as compared to the amount of the pe nalties
that would otherwise have been requested to be imposed on theparticipants in an alleged secret cartel, the Director General shall not
take such additional facts into  account when establishing the a mount
of the penalty to be requested to be imposed by the Court on th e
applicant who provided such evidence.
Other conditions 
for an applicant 
to qualify for leniency.10. (1) Without prejudice to regulations 5(1) and 8(2), in
order to qualify for leniency pur suant to these regulations, an  applicant
shall:
(a) end its involvement in the alleged secret cartel, at the
latest immediately following its application, save to the exten t
that its continued involvement woul d, in the view of the Direct or
General, be reasonably necessary to preserve the integrity of t he
investigations; 
(b) co-operate genuinely, full y, on a continuous basis and
expeditiously with the Office fr om the time of its application
until the Court has concluded its proceedings by issuing a
judgement against all parties  who are subject to proceedings
instituted pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Act by
delivering judgement, or until the Office or the Court haveotherwise terminated their  investigation or proceedings
respectively; and
(c) prior to making the lenien cy application to the Office
the applicant shall not have:
(i) destroyed, falsified or concealed any evidence
of the alleged secret cartel; or
(ii) disclosed its intention to submit a leniency
application to the Office, or any of the contents of the
envisaged application, to any third party other thancompetition authorities or compe tition authorities of a third
country.
(2) The co-operation referred to in paragraph (b) of the
preceding sub-regulation shall include:
(a) providing the Office promptly with all relevant
information and evidence relating to the alleged secret cartel that
comes into the applicant’s posse ssion or is accessible to it an d
any other relevant information and evidence which may come
into the applicant’s possession or  under its control at a later  date,
in particular:
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(i) the name and address of the applicant,
(ii) the names of all o ther undertakings that
participate or participated i n the alleged secret cartel,
(iii) a detailed descript ion of the alleged secret
cartel, including the affected products, the affected
territories, the duration and th e nature of the alleged secret
cartel conduct, and
(iv) information on any past or possible future
leniency applications made to any other competition
authorities or competition authorities of third countries in
relation to the alleged secret cartel;
(b) remains at the disposal of the Office to reply to any
requests for information that m ay contribute to t he establishme nt
of facts;
(c) ensures that directors, managers and other members
of staff are available for inter views with the D irector General
and making reasonable efforts to  ensure that former directors,
managers and other former members of staff are available for
interviews with the  Director General;
(d) does not destroy, falsify, or conceal relevant
information or evidence; 
(e) does not disclose to any third party, other than a
competition authority or compe tition authority of a third count ry,
the fact or any of the  contents of its lenie ncy application bef ore a
sworn application has been filed under the Act and it has been
served on the undertakings and, or association of undertakings
under investigation by the Office , unless otherwise agreed with
the Director General.
The final 
decision on the grant of leniency 
at the end of the 
investigation.11. (1) Subject to the first provi sos of sub-regulations (2) or
(3), as the case may be, the Direct or General shall take a fina l decision
regarding the leniency applicati on at the end of the investigat ion and
shall verbally inform the appl icant thereof as soon as reasonab ly
possible, but by no later than th e date when a sworn applicatio n is filed
in respect of the infringement in question pursuant to article 12A of the
Act, unless the applicant has re quested to be informed of the d ecision
in writing.   
 (2) Where the Director General concludes that the applicant
meets the conditions laid down in  regulation 5(1), he shall gra nt the
applicant immunity from penalties:
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Provided that notwithstandi ng anything contained in any
other law, if during the proceedings before the Court the appli cant fails
to continue to cooperate with the  O f f i c e  i n  t e r m s  o f  r e g u l a t i o n
10(1)(b), the Director General ma y file an application requesti ng the
Court to impose a penalty on the applicant pursuant to article 21(1) of
the Act and may indicate a speci fic amount of the penalty for t his
purpose:
Provided further that the peri od of prescription laid down in
article 26A of the Act for the f iling of such an application sh all
commence to run on the day when the Director General considers that
the applicant has failed t o co-operate with the Office.
(3) Where the Director General concludes that the applicant
meets the conditions laid down in  regulation 8(2), he shall, re quest the
Court to impose a reduced penalty on that applicant within a sp ecified
scale as provided in regulati on 9, in proceedings instituted pu rsuant to
article 12A of the Act:
Provided that notwithstandi ng anything contained in any
other law, if during the proceedings before the Court the appli cant fails
to continue to cooperate with the  O f f i c e  i n  t e r m s  o f  r e g u l a t i o n
10(1)(b), the Director General ma y file an application requesti ng the
Court to impose a higher penalty pursuant to article 21(1) of t he Act
and he may indicate a specific a mount of the penalty for this p urpose:
Provided further that the peri od of prescription laid down in
article 26A of the Act for the filing of such application shall
commence to run on the day when the Director General considers that
the applicant has failed t o co-operate with the Office.
Form of 
applications.12. (1) An applicant shall submit a leniency statement in
relation to a full or summary application for leniency either i n writing
delivered to the address of the  Office by hand, or by registere d mail in
a sealed envelope or by email: 
Provided that an applicant may also submit a leniency
statement in oral form by making a personal statement to the Di rector
General, which shall be recorded  in any form deemed appropriate  by
the said Director General, or by any other means as may be indi cated
by the Office that permit applicants not to take possession, cu stody or
control of such subm itted statements: 
Provided further that an or al statement shall only be
accepted by the Director General  following a prior appointment with
the applicant set  by telephone or by email:
Provided further that a hypothe tical application submitted
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in terms of regulation 16 may not  be submitted to the Office by  making
an oral statement.
(2) Pre-existing information and documents relating to an
application for leniency shall b e submitted in writing to the a ddress of
the Office by hand, by registered  mail in a sealed envelope, or  b y
email, or by any other means as  may be indicated by the Office,  either
together with the leniency statement, or as soon as reasonably
possible, after the submission  of the leniency statement:
Provided that where a leniency statement is made orally the
applicant shall, as soon as reasonably possible thereafter, pro vide the
Office with copies of all pre-ex isting information and document s
relating to the cartel.
 (3) If so requested by the applicant, the Office shall
acknowledge the receipt of the fu ll or summary application in w riting,
and shall indicate the da te and time of receipt. 
(4) A leniency statement shall be submitted in the Maltese or
English language or in any other official language of the Europ ean
Union as may be agreed between the Director General and the
applicant on a case-by-case basis.
Withdrawal of an 
application.13. (1) A leniency applicati on may only be withdrawn by the
applicant:
(a) prior to a decision by the Director General to grant
conditional immunity from pena lties pursuant to regulation 7 or ;
(b) within eight (8) days following notification of the
Director General’s final decision not to grant immunity from
penalties to the applicant pur suant to regulation 11(1).
(2) Where an application is withdrawn pursuant to the
preceding sub-regulation, the a pplication as well as any eviden ce
submitted by the applicant, togeth er with any copies thereof, s hall be
returned promptl y to the applicant:
Provided that the withdrawal  shall not prejudice the
investigative powers of the Offic e under the Act in relation to  t h e
secret cartel in question.
Markers for 
applications for 
leniency.14. (1) An undertaking wishing to apply for leniency may
where it so requests, at the disc retion of the Director General , be
initially granted a place in the queue for leniency, for a peri od to be
specified on a case-by-case basis by the Director General permi tting
the applicant to gather the necessary information and evidence that
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meets the requirements of paragra ph (a) of regulation 5(1) or o f
paragraph (b) of regulati on 8(2), as the case may be.
(2) An undertaking submitting a request for a marker pursuant
to the preceding sub- regulation shall provi de such information,  as may
be required by the Director Gener al, including where available:
(a) the name and address of the applicant;
(b) the basis for the concer n which led to the request;
(c) the names of all other unde rtakings that participate or
participated in the alleged secret cartel;
(d) the affected produc ts and territories;
(e) the duration and the nature of the alleged secret cartel
conduct;
(f) information on any past or possible future leniency
applications made to any othe r competition authorities or
competition authorities of third countries in relation to the
alleged secret cartel.
(3) Any information and eviden ce provided by the applicant
within the period specified pursuant to sub-regulation (1), sha ll be
deemed to have been submitted at th e time of the i nitial reques t.
(4) A request pursuant to sub-re gulation (1) shall be submitted
in the Maltese or English langua ge or in any other official lan guage of
the European Union, as may be agreed between the Director Gener al
and the applicant o n a case-by-case basis.
Summary 
application.15. (1) Where an applicant has al ready submitted a leniency
application to the European Com mission which covers more than t hree
Member States as affected territ ories, either by applying for a  marker
or by submitting a full applicati on in relation to the same all eged secret
cartel, such applicant may submit  a summary application for len iency
to the Director General.
(2) A summary application pursuant to the preceding sub-
regulation shall consist of a s hort description of each of the following:
(a) the name and address of the applicant;
(b) the names of other parties to the alleged secret cartel;
(c) the affected produc ts and territories;
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(d) the duration and the nature of  the alleged secret cartel
conduct;
(e) the Member State where the evidence of the alleged
secret cartel is likely to be located; and
(f) information on any past or possible future leniency
applications made to any othe r competition authorities or
competition authorities of third countries in relation to the
alleged secret cartel. 
(3) Where the European Com mission receives a full
application and the Director Gen eral receives a summary applica tion
in relation to the same alleged cartel, the European Commission  shall
be the main interlocutor of th e applicant until the European
Commission informs the Office that it intends to pursue the cas e in
whole or in part. During this per iod, the Director General may request
the European Commission to inform him about the state of play o f its
investigations:
Provided that in such cases, the Director General may
request the applicant to provide s pecific clarifications only r egarding
the items referred to in sub-regulation (2), before the said Di rector
General requires the submission of a full application pursuant to sub-
regulation (5). 
(4) When the Director General receives a summary
application, he shall verify whe ther he has already received a full or a
summary application for leniency  from another applicant in rela tion to
the same alleged secret cartel at the time of receipt of such a pplication.
If the Director General did not r eceive such an application fro m
another applicant and he consid ers the summary application to f ulfil
the requirements referred to in sub-regulation (2), he shall in form the
applicant accordingly.
(5) Without prejudice to the right of the applicant to
voluntarily submit a ful l application to the Director General a t an
earlier stage, where the European Commission informs the Office  that
it does not intend to pursue the case in whole or in part, the Director
General shall promptly inform the applicant that a full applica tion for
leniency may be submitted, speci fying a reasonable time-period within
which the applicant is to submit  such full application together  with the
corresponding evidence and information:
Provided that the Director General may, in exceptional
cases where strictly necessary for  case delineation or case all ocation,
request the applicant to submit a  full application before the s aid
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European Commission has informed  the Office that it does not in tend
to pursue the case i n whole or in part.
(6) Where an applicant submits a full application in accordance
with the preceding sub-regulation within the time-period specif ied by
the Director General, the full application shall  be deemed to h ave been
submitted at the time of the s ummary application, provided that  t h e
said summary application covers  the same affected product and
territory, as well as the same duration of the alleged secret c artel, as the
leniency application filed with  the European Commission, which may
have been updated.
Hypothetical 
applications.16. (1) A prospective applicant intending to apply for
immunity from penalties may initially present any information t o the
Director General concerning an a lleged secret cartel in hypothe tical
terms, in which case the said pro spective applicant shall prese nt a
detailed descriptive list of the  evidence which is proposed to be
disclosed at a later date to be agreed with the Director Genera l.
(2) The list referred to in the  preceding sub-regulation shall
accurately reflect the nature a nd content of the evidence to be
disclosed and shall clearly ide ntify the product or service con cerned by
the alleged cartel, the geogra phic scope and the estimated dura tion of
the alleged cartel whilst safe guarding the hypothetical nature of the
information. Copies of documents, from which sensitive parts ha ve
been redacted, may be used to illustrate the nature and content  of the
evidence:
Provided that the identity of t he prospective applicant and
of other undertakings involved i n the alleged cartel need not b e
disclosed until the evidence de scribed in a hypothetical applic ation is
submitted:
Provided further that where  the prospective applicant
intends to remain anonymous until t he disclosure of the evidenc e, a
contact person who shall communicate with the Director General until
such date shall be desig nated by the applicant. 
 (3) Upon receipt of hypothetical i nformation as referred to in
sub-regulation (1), the Director General shall assess whether t he nature
and content of the evidence described in the detailed list  is liable to
meet the conditions set  out in sub-paragra ph (i) or (ii) of par agraph (a)
of regulation 5(1), and shall in form the prospective applicant or his
contact person accordingly:
Provided that such preliminary analysis shall not prejudice
the Director General’s eventua l decision on the leniency applic ation
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which will be taken following the submission of all evidence by  the
applicant.
(4) Following the disclosure of the evidence by the applicant,
where the Director General determ ines that such evidence corres ponds
to the description provided in the list referred to in sub-regu lation (1),
and that it meets the conditions set out in sub-paragraph (i) o r (ii) of
paragraph (a) of regulation 5(1) , he shall grant the applicant
conditional immunity from pena lties pursuant to regulation 7. 
Interplay 
between applications for 
immunity from 
fines and sanctions on 
natural persons.17. (1) Current and former direc tors, managers and other
members of staff of an applicant for immunity from penalties to  the
Office or any other competition authority, shall not incur any sanctions
imposed in criminal pr oceedings in relation to their involvemen t in the
secret cartel covered by the application for immunity from pena lties,
for violations of any Maltese law that might pursue predominant ly the
same objectives to those pursued by Article 101 of the TFEU if they
meet the conditions set out in pa ragraph 1 of Article 23 of the
Directive and actively cooperate w ith the Office and, or with t he
Police, as the case may be:
Provided that if the condition of  cooperation is not fulfilled,
the Office and, or the  Police, as the case may be, may proceed with the
investigation against such individuals.
 (2) In order to ensure the full effectiveness of the protection
from sanctions referred to in the preceding sub-regulation to f unction
in situations where more than one jurisdiction is involved, the  Office
shall actively coopera te by ensuring the n ecessary contacts as required
by paragraph 4 of Article 23 o f the Directive. 
 (3) This regulation is without p rejudice to the rights of victi ms
who have suffered harm caused by an infringement of competition  law
to claim full compensation for that damage in accordance with
Directive 2014/104/EU.
Access to 
leniency 
statements.18. (1) Access to leniency statements submitted pursuant to
these Regulations shall only be g ranted to the parties subject to the
relevant investigation by the Of fice, or are subject to proceed ings
which have been instituted before the Court under the relevantprovisions of the Act, or who are party to any proceedings befo re the
Court of Appeal instituted in terms of article 13B of the Act, and
exclusively for the purposes of exercising their rights of defe nce.
(2) A party who has obtained access to the file concerning
investigations by the Office and, or concerning proceedings bef ore the
Court or the Court of Appeal may only use information taken fro m
leniency statements, where necessary to exercise his rights of defence
B 2008
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in any proceedings before the courts of Malta, in cases that ar e directly
related to the case in respect o f which access has been granted , and
only where such proceedings concern:
(a) the allocation between cart el participants of a penalty
imposed jointly and sever ally on them by the Court; or
(b) an appeal before the Court of Appeal instituted in
terms of article 13B of the Act from a judgement of the Court
finding an infringement of articl es 5 and, or 9 of the Act or o f
Articles 101 and, or 102 of the TFEU.
 (3) Leniency statements s ubmitted pursuant to these
Regulations shall only be exchanged by the Office with other na tional
competition authorities, pursuant to Article 12 of Regulation ( EC) No
1/2003, either:
(a) with the consent of the applicant for leniency; or
(b) where the national comp etition authority receiving
the leniency statement has also received a leniency application
relating to the same infringement from the same applicant as that
before the Office, provided that, at the time that the leniencystatement is transmitted by the Office, it is not open to the
applicant to withdraw the infor mation which has been submitted
by the applicant to the nationa l competition authority receivin g
the leniency statement. 
(4) The form in which lenienc y statements are submitted
pursuant to regulation 12 shall neither affect the application of the
preceding sub-regulations and nor t hat of article 12D of the Ac t.
 (5) Any party who has obtained access to a leniency statement
pursuant to sub-regulation (1) or  (2), and their legal counsel shall bind
themselves not to make any copies  thereof by mechanical or elec tronic
means of a leniency statement. 
English language 
version shall 
prevail.19. In the event of conflict or incompatibility between the
Maltese and English language vers ions of these regulations, the
English language version shall prevail.