The European Commission has fined Capatitors Cartel €253 935 000, which is composed of Elna, Hitachi Chemical, Holy Stone, Matsuo, NEC Tokin, Nichicon, Nippon Chemi-Con, Rubycon. Together with the immunity applicant, Sanyo, they operated a cartel for the supply of aluminium and tantalum electrolytic capacitors between 1998 and 2012. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager,
Tag: cartels
Antitrust: Truck producers cartel fined 2.93 bn EUR
Lobbying: EU Transparency Register
idespread lobbying in the EU institutions has led to criticism regarding the transparency and accountability of the EU’s decision-making process. In response to these concerns, the Parliament set up its transparency register in 1995, followed by the Commission in 2008. The two institutions merged their instruments in a joint European
Antitrust: Maritime summit EU-USA-China
epresentatives from the maritime regulatory authorities of the European Union, the People’s Republic of China and the United States met today in Brussels to discuss antitrust and regulatory issues in maritime transport. The delegates confirmed their renewed intention to cooperate on these matters. Hosted by the European Commission's Directorate-General for
Antitrust: Commission investigates Amazon
he European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation into certain business practices by Amazon in the distribution of electronic books ("e-books"). The Commission will in particular investigate certain clauses included in Amazon's contracts with publishers. These clauses require publishers to inform Amazon about more favourable or alternative terms offered
Benchmarks: restoring confidence in the financial markets
enchmarks are widely used to track market developments. However, financial scandals involving benchmarks such as Libor and Euribor have shown that they are susceptible to manipulation. On 18 May MEPs debate new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU and vote on them the
Antitrust: Commitments by Skyteam on routes
he European Commission has adopted a decision that renders legally binding commitments offered by Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta, members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, to lower barriers to entry or expansion on three transatlantic routes. The Commission had concerns that the cooperation between these airlines may harm competition for
Antitrust: Euro interest rate derivatives cartel?
The European Commission has informed Crédit Agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan of its preliminary view that they may have breached EU antitrust rules by colluding to influence the pricing of interest rate derivatives denominated in the euro currency. The sending of a statement of objections does not prejudge the final outcome
Commission fines banks € 1.71 billion for participating in cartels
The European Commission has fined 8 international financial institutions a total of € 1,712,468,000 for participating in illegal cartels in markets for financial derivatives covering the European Economic Area (EEA). Four of these institutions participated in a cartel relating to interest rate derivatives denominated in the euro currency. Six of
Commission accepts legally binding commitments in e-books market
The European Commission has adopted a decision that renders legally binding the commitments offered by Penguin (United Kingdom), in the context of the Commission's investigation regarding the sale of e-books in the European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission had concerns that Penguin, together with four other publishers - Simon &
Commission confirms unannounced inspections in Internet connectivity services
The European Commission can confirm that on 9 July 2013 Commission officials initiated unannounced inspections at the premises of a number of telecommunications companies active in the provision of Internet connectivity in several Member States. The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that
Commission consults on review of safe harbour for minor agreements
The European Commission invites comments on a proposal to revise its guidance notice for assessing when minor agreements between companies are not caught by the general prohibition of anticompetitive agreements under EU competition law. The proposal aims at updating the present Notice, in particular taking into account recent developments in