Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"Proceedings have been filed against: * Australia's two largest manufacturers of electrical cable, Olex Australia Pty Ltd (Olex) and Prysmian Power Cables & Systems Australia Pty Ltd (Prysmian), * the electrical wholesaling businesses L&H (which is operated by Lawrence & Hanson Group Pty Ltd) and Rexel (which is operated by Rexel Electrical Supplies Pty Ltd and Australian Regional Wholesalers Pty Ltd), * six senior executives from these manufacturing and wholesaling companies, and * an industry association, Electrical Wholesalers Association of Australia Limited (EWAA)."

Nexans SA, NKT Holdings and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a previous owner of Prysmian SpA, are due to attend a hearing on 11-18th June 2012 as part of the European Commission's (EC) probe into an alleged underground and submarine high voltage power cable cartel. The EC received official complaints about 12 companies in July 2011. The maximum fine for colluding to fix prices is 10% of yearly sales revenue.

Three plastic pipe system manufacturers, Pipelife Hungaria, Wavin Hungary and BTH Fitting (Tessenderlo Group), two of them leading European players, are suspected of being part of a price fixing cartel operating in Hungary

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.