Avner Finkelshtein, who leads Gornitzky’s Antitrust & Competition practice and is the formerly Deputy Director and legal counsel of the Investigations Department at the Israel Antitrust Authority (IAA), was featured in an article in the Calcalist newspaper discussing the Israel Antitrust Authority’s shift in focus from classic cartels to bid rigging offenses.
Mr. Finkelshtein speculates that this phenomenon, which he believes will only grow with time, is not only the product of what the IAA calls ‘a national calamity’, but rather “It is possible that there is a more practical explanation that stems from the relative ease by which the IAA can expose and investigate tender bid rigging offenses. Procurement managers in the public or private sector that are even the slightest bit alert can easily spot suspicious activity patterns of tender bidders.” And this, Mr. Finkelshtein maintains, shortens the process leading to an investigation and discovery of bid rigging offenses, unlike with classic cartels, which is much more difficult to prove.
