Can the New Antimonopoly Act Change the Japanese Business Community?: The 2005 Amendment to Antimonopoly Act and Corporate Compliance

It has been reported in the media that bid rigging is commonly practised in almost all public works projects in Japan. It was also said that the Japanese anti-trust authority, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), was a watchdog that did not bite, in spite of having a long history of enforcement since 1947. However, the situation is significantly changing because the Japanese Antimonopoly Act was amended in 2005 to greatly strengthen anti-trust enforcement. The JFTC has already succeeded in cracking down against bid rigging committed by big and famous companies under the new Act. For the present, the Japanese business community has to seriously address compliance problems. Can the AMA change the business community?