I'm being investigated for violating the Fair Trade Act. What should I do?

Hello. This is a fair trade specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

A violation of the Fair Trade Act refers to cases where a business operator has done acts that harm free and fair competition order. Representative examples include unfair collusive acts (cartel), unfair trade practices, abuse of market dominant position, and resale price maintenance acts.

If such acts are recognized, this may lead to corrective orders from the Fair Trade Commission, imposition of penalty surcharges, criminal complaints, etc.

In particular, the Fair Trade Commission investigates the facts by securing electronic data such as transaction relationships, internal documents, emails, and messenger records.

If illegality is revealed during the investigation stage, such as unfair support, customer inducement, transaction refusal, or discriminatory pricing, corrective orders and penalty surcharges may be imposed, and in serious cases, criminal punishment may also be received.

However, not all transaction acts immediately constitute unfair trade practices.

The result may vary depending on whether the transaction conditions were based on management necessity or legitimate reasons, or whether the trading partner voluntarily agreed to the contract.

This is because when judging "unfairness," the Fair Trade Commission comprehensively reviews various factors such as the intent, circumstances, economic situation, and attribution of profits of the act.

Therefore, in the early stages of the investigation, rather than making unnecessary statements or submitting documents, you should respond by organizing supporting documents that can prove ① the rationality of the transaction, ② the legitimacy of price determination, and ③ management necessity.

Also, since even a single expression in internal emails, quotations, or contracts can be interpreted as "implicit collusion" or "intent to support," responding without professional legal review is very dangerous.

Daeryun Law Firm's fair trade specialist attorneys exclusively handle actual Fair Trade Commission investigation responses, opinion submissions, penalty surcharge reductions, appeals against decisions, and administrative litigation.

If you receive an attorney's assistance from the investigation stage, you can reduce sanctions through strategies for denying intent to engage in unfair trade and proving legitimate transaction reasons.

If the response direction is wrongly set in the early stages of a Fair Trade Act violation investigation, the case may be converted to criminal proceedings.

Therefore, organizing the facts and reviewing materials at this stage to establish a proof strategy is more important than anything.

If you are suspected of unfair trade practices, please immediately consult with a fair trade specialist attorney to build a response system.