Cartels

A cartel is a formal agreement among firms in an oligopolistic industry.

Cartel members may agree on such matters as prices, total industry output, market shares, allocation of customers, allocation of territories, bid-rigging, establishment of common sales agencies, and the division of profits or combination of these. Cartel in this broad sense is synonymous with “explicit” forms of collusion. Cartels are formed for the mutual benefit of member firms.

The theory of “cooperative” oligopoly provides the basis for analyzing the formation and the economic effects of cartels. Generally speaking, cartels or cartel behaviour attempts to emulate that of monopoly by restricting industry output, raising or fixing prices in order to earn higher profits.

Source: OECD

Cartels, Labour market, No-poach-agreement, Wage fixing

(E+H Attorneys-at-Law)/ /Leave a comment

A new era of cartel enforcement Competition authorities worldwide have historically focused on investigating classic cartel practices, such as price fixing, market sharing, and exchanging commercially sensitive information. These practices are primarily investigated in traditional markets, such as pharmaceuticals, technology, and retail. However, in recent years, an increasing number of antitrust agencies have been focusing…

Anticompetitive agreements, Burden of Proof, Cartels, Damages, Germany, Liability, Litigation

(CDC Cartel Damage Claims Consulting)/ /Leave a comment

On 5 January 2023, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) published an important judgment in relation to follow-on damage actions relating to the so-called German drugstore products cartel (Case KZR 42/20). In its ruling, Germany’s highest civil court also confirmed a factual presumption of harm in the case of anticompetitive information exchanges. This…

Brazil, Cartels, Private enforcement

(Magalhães e Dias Advocacia) and (University of São Paulo)/ /Leave a comment

Last November, on the 10th anniversary of the Brazilian Competition Act (Law No. 12,529/2012, or BCA), a long-expected regulation aiming at incentivizing actions for antitrust damages was enacted in Brazil (the so-called “Brazilian Private Enforcement Package” – BPEP, or Law No. 14,470/2022). Formerly proposed before the Brazilian Senate in 2016 (Senate Bill 283/2016) and inspired…

Cartels, European Court of Justice, European Union

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Case law has given rise to the concept of a Single and Continuous Infringement, providing for consolidating all actions and undertakings supporting an infringement. Including those with a marginal affiliation or effect, providing a doctrine of immense practical relevance. However, while the doctrine allows for solving practical issues, it does not dispense with the obligation…

Cartels, European Court of Justice, European Union, Evidence, Fundamental rights, General Court of the European Union, Procedures

(Advokatfirman Delphi)/ /Leave a comment

In recent years, there has been much talk of ‘due process’ and of ensuring a fair and impartial case handling by competition authorities. The EU Courts consistently stress the importance of respecting the parties’ defence rights but often end up siding with the European Commission. By finding no violation of the parties’ defence rights they…

Abuse of dominance, Cartels, Commitments, Competition law, India, Leniency, Merger control, Settlement

(Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan)/ /Leave a comment

The Competition (Amendment) Bill (‘Bill’) was first published for public consultation in February 2020 and it is only on 5 August 2022 that it has finally been tabled before the Indian Parliament. The Bill is a concerted effort to harmonize competition law with the evolving realities of businesses today. The Bill proposes to amend both…

Cartels, Class action, Collective Redress, Damages, Germany, Private actions, Private enforcement

(Spieker & Jaeger)/ /1 Comment

The collective private antitrust cases in the so-called timber cartel keep many German courts busy. At the beginning of the year, the Stuttgart Regional Court rejected any claims for cartel damages in a rather blunt manner [Link]. Now, the Regional Court of Dortmund has heard the case. As Dortmund is located in Germany’s Westfalia region,…

Australia, Cartels, Criminal enforcement, Criminal sanctions, Disclosure, Leniency

, (K&L Gates)/ /Leave a comment

Legal professional privilege (LPP) has long been recognised as a powerful, though controversial protection. As the Australian High Court once declared, it is “a practical guarantee of fundamental constitutional or human rights”.[1] Yet, despite its well-established jurisprudential position, its utilisation to protect internal cartel investigation records of criminal cartel immunity applicants (IA) from being disclosed…

Abuse of dominance, Canada, Cartels, Competition law, Merger control

, (Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada) and (Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In February 2022, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development announced that the Canadian government was evaluating ways to improve the operation of Canada’s Competition Act (Act). The Minister said that changes would be made in multiple stages, with some initial amendments to be proposed in the following months that would have “an immediate…

Anticompetitive agreements, Cartels, Dawn raids, European Commission, European Union, Labour market, No-poach-agreement

, , , , , , (White & Case) and (White & Case, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

In a speech on 22 October 2021, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed that the European Commission was planning a series of dawn raids for the months to come. She highlighted that the European Commission is not just looking to investigate traditional cartels, like price-fixing agreements, but also other types of anti-competitive conduct – such…