Spain’s antitrust and market regulator CNMC has issued a 4.9 million euro fine on 15 companies specializing in international movers and shipping serices. The agency has found evidence of a 15-year scheme through which companies would cobble their competition-breaking agenda through a so-called “mover’s agreement”, usually worked out during annually-held dinners and lunch meetings.
The CNMC has accused the companies of engaging in market manipulation involving various violations to competition law, including: The setting of quotas, with a percentage of customers allotted to each company; respect for shipping routes, which would be modified and adapted according to the companies’ changing needs, conflicts and administrative relations; and schemes for avoiding direct competition for certain customers- specifically, the agreements would target government agencies and other State customers.
The cartel is expected to have significantly increased the costs for State agencies over the 15-year period, with up to 12,000 euros above the margin in some cases, and often inflating prices by over 50% of the original budget. These increased costs would have negatively affected public finances, causing harm to consumers across the country.
Full Content: CNMC
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Uruguayan Antitrust Scrutiny Puts Major Meatpacking Deal Between Marfrig and Minerva on Hold
May 19, 2024 by
CPI
Alaska Airlines Seeks Dismissal of Consumer Lawsuit Over $1.9 Billion Hawaiian Airlines Buy
May 19, 2024 by
CPI
Idaho Attorney General Orders Split of Kootenai Health and Syringa Hospital
May 19, 2024 by
CPI
Court Rejects T-Mobile’s Appeal Bid in Antitrust Case Over Sprint Merger
May 19, 2024 by
CPI
Google Requests Judge, Not Jury, to Decide on Antitrust Case
May 19, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Mapping Antitrust onto Digital Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystems and Competition Law: A Law and Political Economy Approach
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystem Theories of Harm: What is Beyond the Buzzword?
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Open Ecosystems: Benefits, Challenges, and Implications for Antitrust
May 9, 2024 by
CPI