About our case register
Our case register includes information about the following types of Commission activity:
- Applications for the authorisation or clearance of mergers, authorisation of anti-competitive agreements, and clearance of competitor collaboration.
- Investigations of businesses or individuals under the laws that we enforce.
A case register entry is published when an application is accepted for assessment, or an investigation begins. The facts and the context of each case determine what detail we publish.
When deciding what to investigate we consider a range of factors, including whether there is a reasonable basis to suspect that a breach of the laws we enforce may have occurred or be occurring, as well as our enforcement criteria and current priorities.
The existence of an investigation does not mean that there has been a breach of the laws we enforce, as only a court can make that determination. Publishing details of a matter on the case register does not imply any particular enforcement outcome.
In some cases, we may publish a party’s name before a matter has concluded.
For criminal matters, we will consider publishing a party’s name if one or more of the following apply:
- When we believe there is a risk to public safety and/or a need to warn the public
- When information about the matter is already in the public domain
- When the conduct has been self-reported.
For civil matters, we will consider publishing a party’s name unless one or both of the following apply:
- The party is an individual
- We believe there is a need to preserve evidence or otherwise protect the integrity of the investigation.
As a case progresses, we may add more information to the register. When a case closes, we may publish its outcome. At this stage we are guided by the considerations outlined in our Enforcement Response Guidelines.
For more information about our investigation process and enforcement, see: