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UK: CMA pushes cartel campaign

By  |  October 22, 2018

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.

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

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