Conclusion of the 23rd Annual ICN Conference – Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica

The meeting with the authorities of Portuguese-speaking countries is an opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge. The Chairman of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), Alexandre Cordeiro, began his speech with this opening statement during an information session in Portuguese on the last day of the ICN Annual Conference, held on Friday, May 17.

The event was attended by representatives of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as well as representatives of Mozambique, Portugal and Cape Verde.

One of the main topics discussed at the meeting was the regulation of digital markets. According to Antônio Gomes, deputy director of the OECD, regulation of digital markets will be a trend. “Countries will introduce regulations regarding the digital economy,” he announced.

Gomes also said artificial intelligence is another area that has drawn interest from antitrust regulators. “Artificial intelligence can bring many benefits and positive productivity gains, but we must be aware of risks such as discriminatory leverage of digital companies in the artificial intelligence market, which may result in high market concentration,” he explained.

The topic was also discussed during the session “Algorithmic Collusion and Other Digital Challenges in Cartel Enforcement” promoted by the ICN Cartel Working Group. CADE Deputy Superintendents Fernanda Machado, Lucília Falsarella (UK), Tsuyoshi Ikeda (Japan), Adrien Giraud (France) and Ricardo Oliveira (Portugal) took part in the debate.

Ms. Machado presented a case analyzed by CADE regarding airline tickets using algorithms. The investigation was initiated following several complaints about unjustified increases in airfares in several Brazilian states. During the investigation, CADE analyzed the use of pricing algorithms and how companies use machine learning to define prices to determine whether they may indicate anti-competitive practices or lead to collusion.

According to her, these tools can facilitate the exchange of sensitive information between competitors. “Consider a service provided by a third party in which an algorithm suggests prices by especially analyzing dynamic and private data updated by various competitors, with the main goal of maximizing the company’s performance. Would it pose a competitive risk if competitors exchanged information in the traditional way? Therefore, it is safe to say that companies using this type of algorithms should avoid this practice,” she said.

The last panel of the event presented experiences and challenges related to monitoring and assessing the practices of antitrust authorities. The session was attended by representatives of Brazil, the Netherlands, Hungary, Singapore, Greece, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic. Among the current alternatives, panelists reported successful initiatives led by the OECD to measure the effectiveness of particular interventions.

Closing remarks in the closing session of the conference included CADE President Alexandre Cordeiro, ICN Steering Group Chair Andreas Mundt, and UK Competition and Markets Authority General Counsel Chris Prevett. Mr. Mundt thanked CADE for organizing the event and highlighted the positive experiences ICN had in Brazil. Furthermore, Cordeiro emphasized the importance of the debates and mentioned several topics covered during the conference, such as digital markets, regulation and other important topics aimed at promoting a fair competitive environment. The president of CADE also thanked his team that worked on organizing the event.

As of May 14, approximately 400 people from over 80 countries attended the conference and joined in over 40 hours of activities.

To view the conference panels again, visit the CADE YouTube channel.