Cartel suspected in global refrigeration compressors sector
Competition authorities in the United States, the European Union (including the European Commission, Germany’s BundesKartellamt and the Danish Competition Authority) have reportedly conducted dawn raids on a number of producers of compressors (used mainly for domestic refrigeration and freezers and commercial refrigeration) on suspicion there may be a global cartel in the industry. Whirlpool, Tecumseh and Danfoss are among the companies that have had their premises inspected.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission has fined two chemical companies, Sekisui Chemical and Mitsubishi Plastics, AUD$170 million for operating a price fixing cartel between 2004 and 2006 in the plastic water pipe industry. A third cartel participant, Kubota, applied for leniency as a whistleblower from the JFTC and received no fines.
Freight cartel executive imprisoned in the United States
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced that Peter Baci, a former executive of freight shipping company Sea Star, has been sentenced to four years jail for competition law breaches, the longest ever sentence given for a single anti-trust charge in the US. Baci pleaded guilty to allocating customers, setting prices and rigging bids on coastal water freight transportation between the US and Puerto Rico between 2002 and 2008. Three other executives are awaiting sentencing for their involvement in the cartel.
High voltage cable producers probed across the globe
The European Commission, the US DoJ, the Spanish competition authority, Korean Fair Trade Commission and the Japanese Fair Trade Commission have reportedly carried out coordinated dawn raids on a number of underwater cable manufacturers on suspicion there is a cartel in the sector.
New legislation has been submitted to the Canadian Government that proposes drastic reforms to the country’s Competition Act. The proposed legislation provides for a regime that would mirror the US approach to enforcement in many ways and give Canada some of the most severe anti-trust penalties in the world. The proposal would also create two enforcement tracks relating to anti-competitive agreements—a criminal track for price fixing and other hardcore cartel conduct, and a civil track for other agreements that lessen competition. However, aspects of the proposed legislation have come under criticism from competition lawyers, with the proposed new merger regime in particular being considered potentially burdensome on merging parties.
United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading uses new criminal powers against pyramid scheme
For the first time, the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading has used its new criminal powers under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act (UK). Using these new powers, the OFT has conducted raids on a number of premises of individuals suspected of operating an illegal pyramid selling scheme. The OFT has made three arrests as part of the ongoing investigation.
ACanadian court of appeal has ruled that those who make false and misleading representations to the public can be prosecuted in Canada even if they make the representations only to consumers outside the country. In the R v. Stucky judgment, a lower court had earlier ruled that prosecution in Canada was possible only if some of the victims were located in Canada. The court of appeal also ruled that reliance on legal advice cannot form a defence to a criminal charge, including charges under the Competition Act (Can.).
Federal Trade Commission charges mortgage foreclosure company
The US Federal Trade Commission has charged a mortgage foreclosure 'rescue' company with falsely claiming that it will stop foreclosure or fully refund consumers’ money. A federal court has ordered the company to cease the alleged practices and has frozen the defendants’ assets. Many people who paid the company ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure and others avoided foreclosure only through their own efforts. The FTC is seeking to prohibit the deceptive claims and make the company pay consumer redress.
