Member Vetting Process
Log In
About
Members
News
Awards
Contact
Member Vetting Process
Log In
Log In
Member Search
Specialism
Law Firm
Advisory Firm
Country
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Colombia
Congo (Dem. Rep.)
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Egypt
El Salvador
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Kenya
Korea (South)
Kosovo
Kuwait
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Monaco
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Ireland
Romania
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turks and Caicos Islands
UAE
Uganda
UK
Ukraine
Uruguay
USA
Vietnam
Zimbabwe
Practice Area
Abuse of Dominance
Accountancy
Accounting and Tax
Acquisition Finance
Administrative
Admiralty
Agribusiness
AI
Alternative Asset Management
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternative Finance
Arbitration
Art
Asset Protection
Asset Protection Structures
Audit & Assurance
Audit & Finance
Audit and Accounting Services
Audit and Administration
Aviation
Banking & Finance
Banking Litigation
Bankruptcy
Broker Risk Management
Business
Business Formation
Business Immigration
Capital Markets
Citizenship
Citizenship by Descent
Civil
Civil Litigation
Civil Rights
Commercial
Commercial Arbitration
Commercial Contracts
Commercial Leasing
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Property
Commercial Real Estate
Commercial Tenancy
Commodities Trading
Commodity Disputes
Company
Company & Fund Administration
Company Formation
Competition
Compliance
Compliance & Regulatory
Construction
Contentious Probate
Contract
Contractual Disputes
Copyright
Corporate
Corporate Accountant & VAT
Corporate Criminal
Corporate Finance
Corporate Governance
Corporate Immigration
Corporate Investment
Corporate Restructuring
Corporate Risk Management
Corporate Services
Corporate Support Services
Corporate Tax
Costs
Criminal
Criminal Defence
Criminal Fraud
Cross Border Estates
Cross-Border
Cross-Border Transactions
Cultural Property
Customs Advisory
Data & Innovation
Data Privacy
Data Protection
Debt Collection
Debt Recovery
Defence & Security Procurement
Digital Transformation Consultancy
Dispute Resolution
Divorce
Domestic & International Tax
Due Diligence
Economic Criminal
Employee Benefits
Employment
Employment Litigation
Energy
Energy & Natural Resources
Environmental
ERISA & Employment Benefits
Estate Planning
European
Expert Witness Property Valuation
Family
Fiduciary
Financial Services
Financial Services & Regulatory
Financial Transactions
FinTech
Fiscal
Foreign Direct Investments
Foreign Investments
Franchise
Fraud
Full Service
Fund Administration
Gaming
Health & Safety
Healthcare
Healthcare M&A
Hedge Funds
Human Rights & Labour Rights
Immigration
India Desk
Industrial Relations
Information Technology
Infrastructure
Inheritance
Insolvency
Insurance
Insurance & Reinsurance
Insurance Litigation
Intellectual Property
International Arbitration
International Business
International Corporate
International Debt Collection
International Dispute Resolution
International Employment
International Franchise
International Fraud
International Litigation
International Private
International Real Estate
International Succession
International Tax
International Tax Planning
International Trade
International Trade & National Security
Investigations
Investment
IP Litigation
IT
IT Services
Joint Ventures
Labour & Employment
Leasehold Enfranchisement
Legal Malpractice
Legal Risk Management
Life Science Patent
Life Sciences
Litigation
Litigation & Arbitration
M&A
Maritime
Maritime Arbitration
Matrimonial
Media & Entertainment
Mediation
Mediation & Arbitration
Medical Malpractice
Mining
Neuroradiology Expert Witness
New Technologies
Oil & Gas
Orthopaedic Expert Witness
Patent Litigation
Patent Prosecution
Patents
Payroll Accounting
Personal Injury
Personal Injury - Plaintiff
Pharmaceutical Sector Patents
Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences
Private Client
Private Equity
Private Funds
Probate & Inheritance
Products
Project
Project Finance
Property Valuation
Public Procurement
Real Estate
Real Estate - Property
Regulatory
Regulatory & Compliance
Renewable Energy
Restructuring
SaaS/PaaS
Securities
Securities Litigation
Shipping & Admiralty
Shipping & Maritime
Shipping Finance
Sports
Start Up
Succession
Tax
Tax Litigation
Tax Planning
Tax Relocation
Tax Services
Tax Structures
Technology
Telecommunications
TMT
Trademark
Transaction
Transfer Pricing
Transportation
Trust & Estates
Trust Administration
Venture Capital
Wealth & Estate Planning
Wealth Management
Wealth Planning
Whistleblower
White Collar Crime
Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning
Workers Compensation
Workplace Law & Investigations
Illegal price-fixing in the stainless steel sector – Bundeskartellamt imposes fines
Published: Wednesday, May 29, 2019
The Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, has imposed fines totaling approx. 205 million euros on several companies and their responsible directors and officers in the stainless steel sector in response to illegal price-fixing arrangements.
On 12 July 2018, the Bundeskartellamt announced that it was imposing fines amounting to around 205 million euros in total on six stainless steel companies, one industry association and ten accountable individuals, as those involved were found to have fixed prices and exchanged information deemed to be sensitive from an antitrust perspective. Investigations in relation to four other companies and one organization are still ongoing.
The process began as early as 2015 with the launch of an industry-wide search. The Bundeskartellamt reported that the companies were found to have coordinated on important price components over a period of years and substantially distorted price competition between businesses. The products affected by the arrangements include long steel products belonging to the product groups engineering, tool and high-speed steels as well as RHS steel. These products are typically marketed based on a pricing model that essentially consists of a base price and surcharges for certain charge materials, in particular scrap metal and alloys, with surcharges making up a significant proportion of the final price. The companies in question had been coordinating the method of calculating scrap metal and alloy surcharges and applying this uniformly across the industry from at least 2004 until no later than the searches in November of 2015. Additionally, it was said that those responsible at the companies had exchanged further sensitive information concerning an increase in the base price.
According to the Bundeskartellamt, it became clear from the investigations that the members of the cartel wanted to avoid price competition or at least noticeably reduce it in order to establish as reasonable a market price level as possible for all companies.
Price-fixing agreements distort fair competition and violate antitrust law. We at the commercial law firm GRP Rainer Rechtsanwälte note that violations of this kind can give rise to other severe penalties beyond fines imposed by antitrust authorities. The cartelists may also be faced with damages claims brought by aggrieved parties.
That being said, violations of antitrust law are by no means always as obvious as in the case of illegal price-fixing arrangements; even minor contractual clauses are capable of violating applicable laws. That is why it is advisable to have lawyers who are competent in the fields of antitrust law and competition law review agreements in view of their consequences from the perspectives of both these legal fields.
https://www.grprainer.com/en/legal-advice/antitrust-law.html
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Member Introduction
Harold Kestenbaum
Harold L. Kestenbaum, PC
New York, USA
View Profile
David Rosenbaum
Rosenbaum IP, P.C
Illinois, USA
View Profile
Ted Scott
Secretariat International, Inc.
California, USA
View Profile
Daniel Cragg
Eckland & Blando
Minnesota, USA
View Profile
The Lawyer Network in numbers
0
+
Members Firms
0
+
Countries
0
+
Practice Areas
0
+
Member Firms
Total Staff