Benchmarking and information-sharing arrangements can improve efficiency, quality, innovation and risk management. They may, however, infringe the Chapter I prohibition of the Competition Act 1998 or Article 101 TFEU where the exchange reduces uncertainty about how participants will compete or facilitates coordination, monitoring or retaliation. The rules can apply to direct, indirect, reciprocal, one-way, public or digital exchanges. No formal agreement is required and, depending on the circumstances, a single disclosure may be sufficient. NOTE—This Checklist focuses on information sharing between actual or potential competitors, including competition as sellers, purchasers, bidders or employers. Information sharing in the context of a transaction, joint venture, regulatory process or wider collaboration may require a separate assessment and tailored clean-team arrangements. See further: Information exchange under UK competition law and Information exchange under EU competition law. Where the exercise is conducted through an industry body, see further: Trade associations and competition law risk. When can benchmarking or information sharing create competition law risk? The first question is who will share what information, with whom, by what route and for what