Strategic information exchange
Sharing competitively sensitive information (future prices, capacity, commercial strategy) among competitors, even without an explicit agreement. FNE identifies this as the highest-risk conduct.
Linguistic warning signals
- sharing customer lists among competitors
- discussing margins or costs on informal channels
- sending sales projections to competitors
- trade association meetings where prices are discussed
Why it matters
Unlike explicit price coordination, information exchange doesn't require a formal agreement to be sanctionable — it's enough that the shared information reduces strategic uncertainty among competitors. It's the conduct FNE identifies as highest-risk precisely because it tends to happen in spaces that look legitimate: sector benchmarking, trade associations, or informal conversations between executives who've known each other for years. The absence of a written agreement isn't a defense.
Relevant regulatory framework
- Chile — FNE Trade Associations Guidelines 2011
- Brazil — CADE Compliance Guide 2017
- EU — Horizontal Cooperation Guidelines
Recommended action
- 1Review protocols on what information is shared in trade association or benchmarking settings.
- 2Require that any sensitive competitive data go through legal before being shared.
- 3Document the legitimate purpose of any data exchange with actors in the same sector.
- 4Train sales teams on the difference between public and sensitive information.
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