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Japan: Record price-fixing fines for road builders

By  |  June 25, 2019

Record price-fixing fines that were to be imposed on eight major road builders are expected to be cut by around 20 billion yen (US$187 million) due to a recently revised antitrust law, sources close to the matter said Tuesday, June 25.

The fines, to be reduced to around 40 billion yen (US$373.3 million) in total, are still expected to be the largest combined amount imposed by the antitrust watchdog, exceeding the 27 billion yen (US$252 million) imposed in March 2007 in connection with a bid-rigging case related to the construction of a garbage incinerator.

The investigation into the eight companies—Maeda Road Construction, Kajima Road, Toa Road, Nippon Road, Obayashi Road, Taisei Rotec, Seikitokyukogyo, and Gaeart—began in February 2017 on suspicion that they had formed a cartel to raise the price of asphalt, the sources said.

Full Content: Mainichi

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