The Hungarian Competition Act LVII of 1996 prohibits any activity that intends to or results in the prevention or restriction of competition. This general prohibition applies to activities where market players exchange information between one another about their operations.

At the same time, in major M&A deals, due diligence investigation constitutes an important part of the acquisition process where a market player requests and receives confidential information about the operation and financial activity of the targeted company. However, due diligence aims at a legally reasonable purpose (i.e. to reveal the exact state of the acquired company), its misuse may constitute an act prohibited by competition law provisions.

The experts of VJT & Partners are mentioning the possible threats and are proposing technics to avoid unlawful application of due diligence in their article.