공정거래법의 최근 동향과 동의명령제에 관한 검토

Abstract

Amid global economic crisis, newly inaugurated Korean Government is envisaging a new set of competition policies targeting revitalization of national economy, and Fair Trade Commission is also realigning its overall policy efforts. These efforts have gotten its statutory expressions in the three consecutive bills of 2008 to revise Antimonopoly and Fair Trade Act that have hardened up for decades its substantive and enforcement stance toward leading business groups. Among such legislative approaches, most conspicuous are drastic curtailing of the numbers of target business groups, and further deregulation over holding companies and their son companies. In March 2009 National Assembly, by deleting article 10 of AMFTA, have eliminated the long debated restriction on total amount of equity ownership by member companies of big business group. This measure was hailed by the industry people as an icon of pro-market reforms of the new government. Along with improvement of technical devices for merger control(Revision of Merger Guideline) and regulation of cartelists that are provoked by administrative guidances, there have been various policy efforts to make antitrust enforcements to be more efficient. Alternate dispute resolution procedure for minor unfair business cases are adopted two years ago, and efforts for introduction of American style consent order by FTC are still on going.