Category: Global Blogs

US: Antitrust heavyweights make the case for higher fines (Competition Policy International)

Top antitrust officials have submitted public comment to the United States Sentencing Commission suggesting that higher antitrust fines are necessary to deter anticompetitive behavior, but the submissions disagreed as to why.

The American Antitrust Institute submitted its comment to the USSC arguing that current guidelines that fine price-fixing …read more

South Korea: Top coffee chain fined for dominance abuses (Competition Policy International)

Officials in South Korea have fined the nation’s leading coffee shop chain for abusing its market dominance against shop owners, say reports.

The Fair Trade Commission fined Caffe Bene about $185,000 for the anticompetitive conduct, the largest-ever fine issued by the FTC on franchise operators. The fines were announced Monday.

According to …read more

EU: Steel cord merger approved for Italy, Belgium firms (Competition Policy International)

The European Commission said late last week that it has approved of a proposed merger between two steel tire cord manufacturers.

Reports say Italy-based Pirelli will be acquired by Belgium-based NV Bekaert, a deal first proposed last February. In its decision, the EU regulator said that not only would the buyout …read more

Israel: Antitrust Authority tightens grip on pricing practices (Competition Policy International)

Israel’s Antitrust Authority announced Sunday that it is looking to ban the practice of companies announcing price changes in advance in efforts to prevent price coordination, say reports.

Regulators say such pricing announcements could have effects on the market that are just as negative as secret negotiations. Now, the Authority has …read more