UK: CMA pushes cartel campaign

The latest campaign to encourage whistleblowing over cartel activity continues the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) fight in this area. Earlier this year, it announced a sector-focused crackdown on activity, and in 2017 it launched an online advertising campaign offering rewards of up to £100,000 (US$129,700) for whistleblowers.

The body stated it had issued over £155 million (US$201 million) in fines since April 2015 following investigations into anti-competitive practices, and it is currently investigating 15 cases across a variety of sectors.

We’d love to be your preferred source for news.

Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!

Add as Preferred Source

Major fines include the £3.4 million (US$4.4 million) handed out to two major charcoal and coal suppliers, which were found to have been part of a market sharing cartel. Meanwhile, water tank firms were fined over £2.6 million (US$3.4 million) after forming a cartel to divide up customers, fix minimum prices, and share commercially sensitive information.

The survey found that only 57% of businesses knew it was illegal to fix prices, and 25% of respondents thought it was legal to discuss prices with competing bidders when quoting for work. Over a third incorrectly said dividing up and sharing customers with rivals was legal and 24% were not sure whether or not this was legal.

While a majority of companies said they were in contact with rivals for professional networking purposes, 10% of respondents admitted they had discussed prices with competitors.

Full Content: Out-Law