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a great example of using the anti-trend

Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., the Japan-based wire and cable manufacturer, has reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice under which it will plead guilty to U.S. antitrust violations and pay a fine of US$200M. Separate felony charges levelled against three Furukawa executive employees involved in the collusion have resulted in a combined total of 45 months in U.S. jail terms. The case relates to the collaborative investigations by Japan, the U.S. and the E.U. following the February 2010 raids by Japanese authorities on Furukawa and its competitors: Fujikura Ltd., Sumitomo Electric Industries and Yazaki Corporation. The companies are suspected of being involved in price-fixing and bid-rigging within the automotive components industry. All of the manufacturers, with the notable exception of Furukawa who avoided penalties through reporting the cartel, were also fined a total of ¥12B (US$150M) in June by the Japan Fair Trade Commission for anti-competitive offences in the domestic automotive wire harness market. However, the total cost in penalties in the U.S. could escalate as the remaining companies undergo court judgements after they decide to either enter plea agreements or wait for a court hearing.

It was reported that the European Commission charged twelve companies with collusion for specific practices that they underwent in the submarine, underground power cable and related products sector. Nexans, Prysmian, ABB and NKT all confirmed that they had received a charge sheet from the European competition authorities and will respond following a thorough analysis of the E.U.'s Statement of Objections. The maximum fine applicable is 10% of global revenues. The charges relate to raids which took place over two years ago, however, the legal process was delayed due to the recent disaster in Japan.

CommScope, Inc. will supply the Bishop Hill Wind Farm in Henry County, Illinois with its GroundSmart(TM) Copper Clad Steel solution, an alternative to solid and stranded copper that is increasingly in demand by utilities for its cost-efficiency and anti-theft characteristics. CommScope will provide 1.7 million feet of GroundSmart copper clad steel grounding wire to the project this year--the largest GroundSmart application to date. The Bishop Hills Wind Farm will include approximately 130 wind turbines. Developers of Bishop Hill said that they see GroundSmart as a simple solution to reducing projects costs without compromising the system's integrity. Copper clad steel is specifically designed to disperse fault currents and lightning strikes at a lower total cost of ownership compared to pure copper.