In the last few months, Competition Commission of India (CCI) took what most might view as an extremely lenient stance in two cartel cases; what is known as the most serious violations of competition law. Hard-core cartels are perceived as the “supreme evil of antitrust”[1]. It is then perplexing to understand why such cartels operating…

Introduction On 27 May 2020 the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (“ACM”) imposed a fine of € 82 million on four cigarette manufacturers for indirect information exchanges in violation of Article 101 TFEU and 6 Dutch Competition Act. It is the first fine ACM has given for indirect information exchanges between competitors. The manufacturers…

Intro / Summary The Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven, “CBb”) reduced a fine imposed by the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets (“ACM”) on an unidentified undertaking with 99%, from €1 million to €10.000,-. The ACM asked the court to lower the fine, after being urged by the…

Although criminal liability for cartels was introduced into the Russian criminal law more than twenty years ago (in 1997), it is fair to note that, nowadays, this system does not work appropriately, nor effectively. Over the years, criminal sanctions in Russia for cartels have been very rarely used in practice. Every year, the FAS[1] renders…

2019 was an eventful year in Spanish antitrust enforcement. Here is a brief overview of 2019’s major legal changes and relevant developments in relation to Competition law in Spain, as well as what to expect in 2020.        I.         New Administration On 8 January 2020, Mr Pedro Sánchez was reappointed as Spanish Prime Minister….

Introduction On 4 July 2019 a long-awaited Dutch legislative proposal regarding sustainability initiatives (“Wet ruimte voor duurzaamheidsinitiatieven“) was submitted to the Dutch House of Representatives. The proposal aims to foster collaboration between undertakings towards sustainability goals by removing the barrier of competition law. This is an interesting development because of at least two reasons: (i)…

Recent Developments in Canadian Cartel Enforcement: Is Business Becoming Immune to the Competition Bureau’s Immunity/Leniency Programs? Charles Tingley, Mark Katz, Anita Banicevic As noted in our July 26/19 post on Recent Developments in Canadian Merger Review, merger enforcement in Canada is already seeing the impact of the March 2019 appointment of Matthew Boswell as the…

Flashback In January 2019, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) issued a Statement of Objections against in total 24 Bulgarian undertakings for bid-rigging in public procurement procedures under the National Program for Energy Efficiency of Multifamily Residential Buildings (“Energy Efficiency Program”), carried out in the municipalities of Targovishte (Northeast Bulgaria) and Gotse Delchev (Southwest…

The Federal Council aims at tightening up the Cartel Act in order to combat the foreclosure of the Swiss market and the price discrimination against Swiss corporate customers. For this purpose, the Federal Council has adopted a draft bill and a dispatch to Parliament addressing the people’s initiative “stop Switzerland’s high prices – the fair…

Introduction On 19 March 2019, the highest administrative court in the Netherlands (het College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven, “CBb”) ruled that the Dutch Competition Authority (“the ACM”) can hold private equity investors liable for cartel infringements committed by their portfolio companies.[1] According to the ACM, and now confirmed by the CBb, the private equity…