Morocco’s Accountant Association Fined $300,000 for Anti-Competitive Practices

"After deliberations and in application of the provisions of Article 39 of Law 104-12 (on freedom of prices and competition, editor’s note), the Council has taken Decision No. 80/D/2022, by which it has imposed a financial penalty of three million dirhams (3,000,000 DHS) against the Order of Chartered Accountants," the Competition Council said in a statement.

The Order of Chartered Accountants is accused of violating the provisions of Article 6 of the aforementioned law, which prohibits cartels, in any form and for any reason whatsoever. "These practices of the Order of Chartered Accountants distort the free play of competition in the market concerned and limit the access of companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to the market for accounting and financial audit services at competitive prices," the Council points out.

According to the Council, the Order is also accused of having inserted anti-competitive provisions in some of its documents, by setting a minimum price in a free competition market, whereas this does not fall within the missions entrusted to it by the legislator and which are defined by Law No. 15-89 governing the accounting profession and establishing an order of chartered accountants.

The Order of Chartered Accountants has 60 days to make the necessary amendments, remove the anti-competitive provisions from its documents. After this deadline, a daily penalty of 4,000 DHS will be imposed on them, the Competition Council concluded.