MARCH 13, 2020

President Piñera presents bills for the Anti-Abuse Agenda to punish collusion, use of privileged information, corruption and electoral crimes

The initiatives seek to increase the sentences for collusion involving essential goods and services, the use of privileged information, fraud and alteration of documents, the maximum fines to be imposed by the Commission for the Financial Market and the statute of limitations for electoral crimes.

On Friday, President Sebastián Piñera presented four bills for the Anti-Abuse Agenda and for the Fair and Decent Treatment for All Agreement that seek to combat collusion, the use of privileged information, corruption within the State and electoral crimes.
"We wish to build a fairer, more equitable Chile without abuses or privileges and with equal opportunities and dignity for all. That is the powerful message from the voice of the people, and we have heard it," the President said during a ceremony. He was accompanied by Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel; Finance Minister Ignacio Briones; Economy Minister Lucas Palacios; Justice and Human Rights Minister Hernán Larraín; and the General Secretary of the Presidency, Felipe Ward.

The first bill would increase sentences for collusion involving basic goods and services, introduce new tools to strengthen the investigation of price cartels by the National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE) and create the figure of the anonymous whistleblower, which will allow the FNE to withhold the identity of such individuals if so requested.

For its part, the bill targeting abuses in the financial market proposes an increase in sentences and fines for the use of privileged information and other abuses in the stock market, establishes "black-out periods" associated with the use of privileged information, and creates the figure of the “anonymous whistleblower” with respect to the Commission for the Financial Market (CMF).

"When these bills become law, we will have freer and more transparent markets, more competitive companies, higher quality products and better prices and, most importantly, a better quality of life for all people," President Piñera explained.

The Anonymous Whistleblower's bill regarding "anti-corruption in the State" would create a channel for complaints to the Comptroller General of the Republic with respect to disciplinary or administrative offenses along with acts linked to corruption or that affect public resources.

The final bill increases the statute of limitations for electoral crimes from two to five years.

The announcements are part of the Anti-abuse Agenda and Fair Deal, which includes three pillars: fighting collusion, corruption, financial crimes and electoral crimes more effectively; providing better protection for the rights of consumers; and increasing protection of workers' rights.