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US: Top court rejects AU Optronics over $500 million price-fixing fine

By  |  June 15, 2015

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge by AU Optronics Corp to a $500 million criminal fine the Taiwan-based company was ordered to pay in 2012 after a conviction for price-fixing in the market for liquid crystal display panels.

The high court left in place a July 2014 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that the fine was consistent with US law. The appeals court said the company and two of its employees were properly convicted.

In the criminal case, AU Optronics said the $500 million fine imposed by a federal judge after a jury trial was excessive because it included alleged gains to co-conspirators.

The company argued the case could not be brought in US courts because much of the alleged conspiracy took place outside the United States and there was no direct impact on American consumers.

Full content: Reuters

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