In recent years, there have been frequent reports regarding Taiwanese enterprises being subject to large fines by foreign competition authorities for violation of antitrust laws. Some high-level managers of the violating enterprises have even been imprisoned. In order to assist Taiwanese enterprises to establish internal compliance rules to curb their risk of violating antitrust laws of other countries, the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) published "Guidelines on Setting up Internal Antitrust Compliance Program" ("Guidelines") and "Antitrust Compliance-Dos and Don'ts" ("Principles of Conduct") in December 2011. The Guidelines and Principles are modeled after relevant regulations of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Singapore, India and Israel, as well as the materials provided by the OECD and the International Competition Network (ICN).

According to the Guidelines, an enterprise should stipulate an antitrust compliance program appropriate for its business strategies and corporate culture. The program should cover at least the following measures to ensure compliance: (1) developing a corporate culture where legal compliance is essential, (2) stipulating policies and procedures which every one should observe, (3) providing education or training programs, (4) establishing audit, review and report mechanisms, (5) creating proper rewards and punishments, and (6) designating a contact person for communication and consultation.

In order to allow each enterprise to grasp what are and are not permissible, the TFTC published the Principles of Conduct including types of violation under the Taiwan Fair Trade Act and antitrust laws of other jurisdictions. The Principles of Conduct lists dos and don'ts for concerted action (cartel), restrictions on resale price, monopoly and abuse of market power.

The Guidelines and Principles of Conduct are, in their nature, administrative directives with no binding legal effect. However, the TFTC encourages Taiwanese enterprises to take its initiative to draft their own compliance program so as to lower their risk of violating relevant laws. In addition, besides referring to the Guidelines and Principles of Conduct, each enterprise while drafting such program should take its corporate culture and industry characteristics into consideration.