The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published proposed changes to its guidance on directordisqualification orders in competition law cases.

Directors can be disqualified from acting as a director for up to 15 years if his or her company is involved in a breach of competition law and the court considers he/she is unfit to be involved in the management of a company as a result.

OFT guidelines currently state that the OFT or a regulator would focus on cases where a director was directly involved in a breach of competition law, such as cartel activity. The proposed guidance would indicate that the OFT or a regulator would also focus on cases where a director should have taken steps to prevent a breach or where a director ought to have known of a breach but did not.

The consultation also discusses a number of other changes to the detail of the OFT’s guidance. The consultation period ends on 20 November.

For more information download Competition disqualification orders consultation <shared_oft/consultations/oft1111con.pdf>