Venezuela

Summary

Relevant legislation and statutory standards

The Venezuelan competition rules on mergers are contained in:

1. the Venezuelan Competition Law (Ley para Promover y Proteger el Ejercicio de la Libre Competencia), published in Official Gazette No 34,936, dated 13 January 1992 (‘the Competition Law’);

2. Regulation No 2 under the Competition Law, published in Official Gazette No 35,963, dated 21 May 1996 (‘the Merger Regulation’);

3. Instructive No 3 on Economic Concentrations, published in Official Gazette No 36,209, dated 20 May 1997 (‘the Instructive No 3’).

4. Merger Guidelines, published in Official Gazette No 36,819, dated 1 November 1999;

5. Resolution No 14/96, published in Official Gazette No 36,000, dated 24 May 1996 (‘Resolution No 14/96’).

In 2007, a special commission of the Venezuelan National Assembly discussed a draft of a new competition law. If the draft is approved by the National Assembly, the merger review framework will significantly change, since the draft establishes mandatory prior notification of mergers and acquisitions if the assets of the companies involved exceed 2.5 million tax units (approximately US$63 million), or if the value of their businesses exceeds 1 million tax units (approximately US$25 million).