GUATEMALA Law and Practice Contributed by: Claudia Pereira, Carlos Ortega and Juan Pablo Gramajo, Mayora & Mayora, S.C
3.8 Review Process The review process, its phases and timeline are not specified in the Competition Act. These and other further details should be contained in the forthcoming Regulation to the Act. 3.9 Pre-Notification Discussions With Authorities Apart from the hearings conducted within proce - dures established in the Competition Act (which does not regulate the procedure for merger con - trol), the Directors of the Superintendence may only discuss matters under their purview with representatives of economic agents through for - mal interviews regulated by the Act. The agenda for interviews is public, and includes the name of the economic agent and the sched - uled time. Interviews must be held at Super - intendence offices. A written record of each interview will be produced and made publicly available. Such record is called an “acta” and, based on Guatemalan practice, these will only contain a brief description of what occurred, rather than a detailed transcript of the conversa - tion. However, the interviews will also be record - ed in audio or video format; these recordings will be confidential, and only accessed by the economic agent involved. 3.10 Requests for Information During the Review Process The review process is not specified in the Com - petition Act. These and other further details should be contained in the forthcoming Regula - tion to the Act. 3.11 Accelerated Procedure The review process, or an expedited form of it, are not specified in the Competition Act. These and other further details should be contained in the forthcoming Regulation to the Act. However,
• signatures on petitions or forms will not require notarisation, unless involving a settle - ment or waiver of rights; • documents issued by public officials will not require any notarisation or additional certifica - tion; and • documents granted abroad, legalised before a Guatemalan official or duly apostilled, are valid without need of further accreditation. However, under the general provisions of the Judiciary Act (applicable not only to judicial procedures), documents executed in a foreign language must first be translated into Spanish by a sworn translator authorised in Guatemala. Furthermore, if the document is a power of attor - ney or must be registered before any Guatema - lan registry, it must also be incorporated into the records of a Guatemalan notary; local offices will act based on the notarised copies issued by the recording notary. 3.6 Penalties/Consequences of Incomplete Notification The Competition Act does not address specific requirements for filing notifications, nor does it set any penalties if the submissions are deemed incomplete. The conduct classified as breach - es or violations subject to penalties does not include incomplete filings. 3.7 Penalties/Consequences of Inaccurate or Misleading Information Concentrations authorised based on false infor - mation are legally considered irregular and are subject to the penalties. However, as explained in 3.6 Penalties/Consequences of Incomplete Notification , the Competition Act does not specify the applicable penalties, which may hin - der enforcement if not amended.
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