Antitrust and competition
The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) is a trade association whose members compete with one another. That makes antitrust discipline a condition of its usefulness: competitors can cooperate on evidence, never on markets. GRA's programmes are designed around safeguards for every meeting, working group and exchange of information. They are set out in a written competition policy that counsel reviews before membership opens. This page is the public statement of that design. It belongs to trust and integrity.
- 01In briefThe short answer
- 02The principleCooperation on evidence, never on markets
- 03Legal frameCompetition law that applies to an industry body
- 04Information exchangeWhat never passes between competitors
- 05SafeguardsThree lines that are never crossed
- 06Conduct of meetingsHow the design applies in practice
- 07Membership and statusOpen criteria, independent decisions
GRA · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Antitrust and competition at GRA is the discipline that makes a trade association of competitors useful: they may cooperate on evidence, never on markets. Safeguards for every meeting, working group and exchange of information are set out in a written competition policy that counsel reviews before membership opens, with objective membership criteria applied equally.
Report to outcome.
Fig.How a reported error is reviewed and corrected. Design, not a record.
People and services in Ukraine.
Where people live and how far each division sits from a large city's services, shown for Ukraine as an example geography for this subject.
Cooperation on evidence, never on markets.
Precompetitive work
Shared research on exposures, protection gaps and methods, published for the whole industry and the public.
Commercial coordination
Anything that touches prices, terms, customers, markets, capacity or a member's independent decisions.
Competition law that applies to an industry body.
| Jurisdiction | Rule | Status note |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Sherman Act section 1 | The 2000 competitor collaboration guidelines were withdrawn in December 2024; the DOJ and FTC opened an inquiry on replacement guidance in February 2026, with no replacement on the record found |
| European Union | Article 101 TFEU and the 2023 Horizontal Guidelines | Information exchange and sustainability agreements chapters apply to industry cooperation |
| United Kingdom | Competition Act 1998 and CMA sustainability agreements guidance | Guidance published 2023 |
What never passes between competitors.
Competition authorities treat exchanges of future prices, capacity, terms and customer-specific data as the most serious risk. GRA's design keeps all such information out: exposure data contributed for research is aggregated so no firm is identifiable, and no meeting discusses prices, rates, capacity or whom to insure or finance. See membership and competition law.
Three lines that are never crossed.
| Safeguard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Never discussed | Prices, premiums, rates, fees, wages, bids, underwriting, lending or coverage terms, capacity, and individual customers or suppliers |
| Never agreed | Market, customer or territory allocation, collective refusals to deal, collective commitments on which sectors, firms or projects to finance, insure or invest in, or exclusionary standards |
| Never exchanged | A member's confidential or competitively sensitive information; research data is aggregated so that no firm can be identified |
How the design applies in practice.
- 01
Before
A written agenda circulated in advance, with a reminder of the safeguards.
- 02
During
The chair keeps to the agenda and stops any discussion that strays; any participant may object.
- 03
After
Minutes recorded and kept, showing what was discussed.
- 04
Concerns
Report a competition-law or conduct concern in confidence to compliance@globalriskalliance.com. It is reviewed outside the meeting or activity concerned.
Open criteria, independent decisions.
Membership criteria are designed to be objective, published with the membership terms and applied equally to every applicant. Participation is designed never to restrict a member's independent commercial decisions, and no member is required to adopt any method GRA publishes. The safeguards are a design and are not presented as an adopted policy until counsel has reviewed it and membership opens. How they apply to members is set out on competition safeguards; related: conflicts, sponsors and neutrality and membership and authority.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Antitrust safeguards | The written rules, agendas, minutes and counsel review that keep competitors in a trade association from exchanging competitively sensitive information or coordinating prices, output or customers. |
| Competitively sensitive information | Information on prices, costs, capacity or strategy whose exchange can reduce competition. |
| Information barrier | Controls that stop inside information passing between parts of a firm. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
- Sherman Act section 1; DOJ and FTC inquiry on new competitor collaboration guidance (February 2026) after the 2000 guidelines were withdrawn in December 2024
- Article 101 TFEU and the EU Horizontal Guidelines (2023), including the chapter on sustainability agreements
- UK CMA guidance on environmental sustainability agreements (2023)
Questions and answers.
Why does GRA publish this before membership opens?
Can GRA publish industry benchmarks?
Does GRA take positions on competition policy?
Who can raise a concern?
Around GRA.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.