Trading prohibition in the event of infringements of the rules on competition

According to the Swedish Competition Act, people who are involved in anti-competition agreements may be issued with a trading prohibition.

The Swedish Competition Authority may in conjunction with cases concerning competition administrative fines bring proceedings concerning a trading prohibition or, without such proceedings being brought, apply for a trading prohibition.

In order for a trading prohibition to come into question, it is required that the matter involves a cartel. In these cases the concept of cartel includes undertakings in the same line of trade or production fixing selling prices, limiting or controlling production or share up markets.

A trading prohibition may be issued for the following persons:

a) private business operators, that is to say, natural persons who professionally conduct operations of an economic nature, regardless of whether or not the operation is oriented towards profit;

b) formal representatives of the legal persons;

c) a person who has in purely practical terms exercised the management of a business operation or has outwardly appeared to be responsible for a private business operation. If several persons together have jointly exercised the actual management, they may all be subject to a trading prohibition.