1.Complaint
Complaint refers to a case filed by reporting agency or referred by other government agencies in writing (including E-mail and fax) or oral (recorded by the FTC) to the FTC, stating a possible violation of the provisions of the laws enforced by the FTC. The results of processing including:
(1)Administrative Decision
Administrative decision refers to a disposition made by the FTC that a defendant is confirmed to violate the laws enforced by the FTC and will receive a decision document or a warning letter.
(2)No-action Decision
No-action decision refers to a defendant confirmed not to violate the laws enforced by the FTC.
(3)Termination of Review
Rejection of complaint refers to the complaint goes beyond FTC's responsibilities, shall be referred to another agency according to division of jurisdictions between agencies, or fails to meet the FTC's procedural requirements.
a.Reasons for rejection of complaint：criminal case, civil dispute, case fallen upon other agency's responsibility, failing to meet procedural requirements (e.g., the filing party withdrew its complaint, failed to supplement information required, been out of contact, complained anonymously, or the complained party not fitting into the definitions stipulated in the laws enforced by the FTC), and
the others (not falling into the aforementioned 4 categories).
b.Results of rejection of complaint：replied with a written explanation, filed for record, or referred to another agency.
(4)Suspension of Investigation
Termination of review refers to the FTC's decision to terminate an investigation once the enterprise under investigation has fulfilled its commitments by taking specific measures to cease and rectify its alleged illegal conduct according to the Article 28 of the FTA.
2.Application for Concerted Action
Application for concerted action refers to an application submitted by enterprises to the FTC for an approval to conduct a concerted action, an extension of time limit for the approval, and amendment of approved content of a concerted action according to the Article 15 and the Paragraph 2, the Article 16 of the Fair Trade Act. The results of processing including:
(1)Approved
An approved case refers to an application for concerted action, an extension of time limit for the approval, and amendment of approved content of a concerted action for which the FTC decides to grant approval at its Commissioners' Meeting.
(2)Partially Approved
A case partially approved refers to an application for concerted action, an extension of time limit for the approval, and amendment of approved content of a concerted action for which the FTC decides to grant approval for part of the applied items at its Commissioners' Meeting.
(3)Rejected
A rejected case refers to an application for concerted action, an extension of time limit for the approval, and amendment of approved content of a concerted action against which the FTC decides to reject at its Commissioners' Meeting.
(4)Termination of Review
A review of an application case is terminated refers to an application which contains a fact taking place before the Fair Trade Act became effective, or a case whose handling results can not be classified into any one of the aforementioned three categories and which is already closed as proposed.
3.Merger Notifications It refers to a merger notification filed by an enterprise to the FTC according to the Article 11 of the Fair Trade Act. The results of processing including:
(1)Merger not Prohibited
Merger not prohibited refers to a merger proposal not prohibited or objected by the Commissioners' Meetings of the FTC.
(2)Merger Prohibited
Merger prohibited refers to a merger proposal prohibited by the Commissioners' Meetings of the FTC.
(3)Termination of Review
Termination of review happens either when notifying parties fail to provide sufficient documents to meet the FTC's written request, or the results of cases handling cannot be categorized into merger not prohibited or merger prohibited.
4.Request for Explanation Request for explanation refers to a request of a government agency, an enterprise, or an individual to the FTC for explanation of certain provisions of the laws enforced by the FTC or a written request of a government agency to comment whether a case is applicable to the laws enforced by the FTC. The results of processing including:
(1)Explanation
Explanation refers to a written statement which, issued by the FTC's Commissioner' Meeting, deliberates and analyzes the meanings of the laws enforced by the FTC for its enforcement work upon a government agency, an enterprise, or an individual's request.
(2)Inquiry-answering
a.Inquiry-answering refers to a response provided by responsible personnel, instead of the FTC Commissioners' Meeting, in accordance with a previous explanation or based on the existent laws and regulations whose provisions are already adequate to clarify the question raised or whose provisions are very clear without controversy and need no further interpretation.
b.It also refers to a response to a request of FTC's advisory opinion by a court, a prosecutor's office, or an investigation agency.
(3)Termination of Review
Termination of review happens when a request for explanation goes beyond the FTC's responsibilities and for which the FTC has no authority to provide explanation, or the contents of the request are vague and the party making such request fails to respond to or ignores the FTC's request for supplementary explanation.
5.FTC Self-initiated Investigation
The FTC self-initiated investigation means that the FTC take initiative to investigate, per its authorization and duties, possible illegal actions against the laws enforced by the FTC in accordance with an established procedure. This category includes actions taken by the FTC itself and triggered by the oral interpellation by the legislators, anonymous complaints, and anonymous complaints referred by other agencies. The results of processing including:
(1)Administrative Decision
Administrative decision refers to a disposition made by the FTC that a defendant is confirmed to violate the laws enforced by the FTC and will receive a decision document or a warning letter.
(2)No-action Decision
No-action decision refers to a defendant confirmed not to violate the laws enforced by the FTC.
(3)Termination of Review
Aborgation of review happens when a FTC self-initiated investigation case goes beyond FTC's responsibilities or should be monitored and then closed.
(4)Suspension of Investigation
Termination of review refers to the FTC's decision to terminate an investigation once the enterprise under investigation has fulfilled its commitments by taking specific measures to cease and rectify its alleged illegal conduct according to the Article 28 of the FTA.