El Salvador: Competition regulator wins three Supreme Court cases

The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of El Salvador has ruled in favor of the Superintendence of Competition (SC) in three cases presented, respectively, by Operadora del Sur, (which operates the Walmart brand in El Salvador); by the former president of the National Association of Private Enterprises (ANEP), Jorge Daboub; and by the Gasolinas y Lubricantes (Gasolub) fuel company, along with the businessman Carlos Alberto Ramírez Valiente.

In the first case, the SC indicated that in January 2014 Operadora del Sur refused to provide information that had been requested for a study into the state of competition, and instead requested an extension. However, instead of providing the required information, the company filed an appeal against the financial superintendent of the SC, alleging a breach of the law.

The second appeal, lodged in October 2013 by the former president of ANEP, Jorge Daboub, against the superintendent of Competition, came over the refusal of the official to show make the industry group a “party” in the sanctioning process the regulator was carrying out against Alba Petróleos de El Salvador over the latter’s execution of a merger agreement without prior notification.

Finally, in the last case, the SC indicated that both Gasolub and Ramírez Valiente had refused to provide information that had been requested in the framework of the sanctioning process against Alba Petróleos, which led to fines of US$11,400 for each. The Supreme Court threw out all three appeals against the SC, confirming the legality of its decisions.

Full Content: El Economista

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