Mergers

Because a merger creates a structural change in the market, the Law requires that merger transactions receive prior approval.  After-the-fact regulation is not sufficient, as it is difficult to carry and difficult to enforce and is often not enough to prevent the harm to competition that arises as a result of the consummationtion of the merger and of the structural change that is created.

Restrictive Arrangements

The General Director has the authority to grant an Exemption from the need for prior approval to a restrictive arrangement, if the General Director   is persuaded that the arrangement will not inflict substantive harm on competition in the market (§ 14 of the Law), provided that the arrangement does not involve a "naked  restraint" — i.e., so long as the arrangement does not contain restraints that harms competition without a redeeming value or with a redeeming value that can be achieved in other, less anticompetitive means.

Monopolies

The Law does not prohibit the mere acquisition of monopoly status through independent growth, but it does regulate the manner in which a dominant firm uses its position status in the market after such position is acquired.  Nonetheless, the Law recognizes that an absolute prohibition on holding a monopoly status, if achieved through independent growth, could have the effect of preventing entities from competing with their utmost abilities.