November 15, 2013
The Americans are not ones to pussy foot around when it comes to economic crime. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights held cartel related hearings bluntly entitled “Time Change: Cartel Prosecution: Stopping Price Fixers and Protecting Consumers”. Testimony included remarks by William Baer (Assistant A.G. in the DoJ’s Antitrust Division), Ronald Hosko (Assistant Director in the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division) and several academics and private antitrust practitioners. Witness testimony has now been posted along with a webcast – see: here.
Bill Baer’s statement includes summaries of the Antitrust Division’s current and recent cases (including auto parts, LCD panels, air cargo and municipal bonds), recent fines (including the recent $740 million in auto parts, $1.3 billion in LCD panels and $1.9 billion in air transportation and freight forwarding) and the DoJ’s strategies to more effectively detect and prosecute antitrust cartels.
Yesterday’s testimony was followed by more today, with testimony by Bill Baer and Edith Ramirez (Chairwoman of the U.S. FTC) before a House of Representatives Regulatory Subcommittee on Oversight of the Antitrust Enforcement Agencies. Some highlights from today’s testimony by Bill Baer includes:
Fines. Recent high-level enforcement statistics: 50 criminal cases in 2013; 21 corporations charged; 34 individuals charged; fines over USD $1 billion; and jail sentences for 28 individuals, with an average of two years per defendant.
Auto parts cartel. More information and updates relating to the ongoing global auto parts cartel. According to the DoJ, the tally of key facts so far in this case is: 21 companies and 21 executives charged; USD $1.6 billion in criminal fines; and 17 executives sentenced to serve prison time. Also included is a nifty diagram illustrating the various cartelized auto parts in the ongoing case.
e-books. A discussion of the effects of the Apple e-books decision, including reduced e-book prices (according to the DoJ a drop in average prices from about $11 to $6) and overview of the court appointed external Apple monitor.
MFN provisions in health insurance contracts. Interesting comments regarding the DoJ’s view on MFN clauses in health care contracts, the DoJ’s challenge of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s use of MFN provisions in hospital supply contracts and Michigan’s move to pass legislation banning the use of MFN provisions in health care provider contracts (joining more than a dozen other states that have passed similar legislation).
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