By Raphael Reims1   The criminal prosecution of hardcore cartels, i.e. the fixing of prices, imposition of output restrictions or the allocation of sales territories or customer groups by competitors2, has a long and consistent tradition in the USA. By contrast, criminal prosecution of hardcore cartels in the EU exists only in some Member States.3 […]

By Ann O’Brien & Kayley Sullivan1   I. INTRODUCTION The first half of 2022 has been an exceptionally busy time for criminal antitrust enforcement and policy announcements. The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division (“Division”), led by Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”) Jonathan Kanter, has taken an aggressive and expansive stance on bringing criminal antitrust charges […]

By Ann O’Brien, Brent Snyder & Sean Sandoloski1   Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Lisa Monaco recently delivered remarks at the ABA’s National Institute on White Collar Crime. In those remarks, she announced important changes with respect to corporate criminal enforcement,2 and shortly thereafter she followed up with a memorandum to federal prosecutors detailing those changes.3 […]

By Chris Margison & Robin Spillette1   Introduction The application of antitrust laws to no-poach2 and wage-fixing agreements3 is currently being debated in many jurisdictions around the world. While it is generally accepted that these types of agreements may result in lower wages for employees and reduced output in downstream product markets, there is significant […]

By Marieke Datema, Andrew Leitch & Ed Coulson (Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner)1   I. Introduction Over ten years since the introduction of the European Commission Settlement Notice, cartel settlement decisions have become more common than standard decisions: in the period between January 1, 2017 and December 21, 2020, over 70 percent of cartel cases in […]

By Carl Hittinger & Ann O’Brien (BakerHostetler)1   The COVID-19 global pandemic has upended typical supply and demand in unprecedented ways. As the world struggles to contain the pandemic and faces tragic human suffering, the resulting states of emergency, need for medical supplies, and panic buying have caused overnight changes in supply and demand on […]

By Christopher Thomas, Raphael Fleischer, Christian Ritz & Stefan Kirwitzke (Hogan Lovells)1 Competition law will not be at the top of companies’ agendas today. COVID-19 presents companies with many challenges and the consequent disruption is likely to affect the global economy significantly in the coming months and potentially years. This will trigger companies around the […]

Information Exchange among Competitors: The Lay of the Land of Enforcement in Brazil1 By Ana Paula Martinez2 & Mariana Tavares de Araujo3 (Levy & Salomão Advogados) I. Introduction Prosecution against hard-core cartels has been an enforcement priority in Brazil for almost two decades. During the five years following the execution of the first leniency agreement and […]