On May 29, 2014, Brazilian antitrust agency, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (“CADE”) maintained a record fine of 3.1 billion Brazilian reais (around $1.4 billion), on top of mandatory asset divestitures, against the members of a long-running cement and concrete cartel that has allegedly inflated the price of cement and…
Articles Posted in International Highlights
South Korea Railway Officials Under Scrutiny for Irregularities
On May 29, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the country’s Prosecutor’s Office has seized documents from the Korea Rail Network Authority (“KR”), to investigate bribery and irregular supply relationships by three to four rail part manufacturers that provided supplies to KR. In addition, some rail parts manufacturers are…
GSK Employees in China Sue Management Over Unreimbursed Bribes
On May 28, 2014, the Financial Times (“FT”) reported that junior employees and sale staff of GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) China is suing their management over unreimbursed “bribes” paid, at the management’s behest, to hospitals and doctors. In the allegations put forth by the employees, the management of GSK China directed staff…
Samsung Reaches Agreement with the EC on SEP Injunctions
On April 29, 2014, the European Commission (“EC”) announced that it has reached a legally-binding agreement with Samsung on standard essential patent (“SEP”) injunctions. According to the terms of the agreement, Samsung “will not seek injunctions” in the EU on the basis of its SEPs for smartphones and tablets against…
UK Competition Authority Launches Advisory Tool on Vertical and Horizontal Agreements
Last week, the newly-established UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), its main anti-trust and consumer protection agency, announced an advisory process to provide guidance to businesses on the application of competition law to potential horizontal and vertical agreements raising novel or unresolved issues has been put into practice. The “Short-form Opinion” (“SfO”)…
China Ease M&A Rules in Insurance
On April 8, 2014, China’s Insurance Regulatory Commission (“CIRC”) announced that it is relaxing merger and acquisition (M&A) rules in the insurance industry. Specifically, CIRC scrapped the rule that would previously limit insurers from buying more than one peer that competes in the same market segment. This move has been…
MOFCOM Steps Up Enforcement of Merger Report Rules
On March 20, 2014, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued a statement on violations of rules on reporting mergers. The statement announced that starting on May 1, 2014, MOFCOM will publish on its website a list of all offenders who fail to report mergers in violation of the Anti-Monopoly…
MOFCOM Update Draft Rules on Simplified Merger Review Procedure
On March 17, 2014, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) sought comments from antitrust lawyers on draft rules for its long-awaited simplified merger review procedure in a meeting behind close doors. Attendees reported that MOFCOM showed a much simplified notification form, which could significantly reduce the burden of proof companies…
MOFCOM Releases Data on Merger Review Cases
On February 27, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) announced that it cleared 207 merger review cases in the administrative year of 2013, an increase of 26% over the numbers in 2012. During the same time period, the number of merger filings increased by 8%, while the number of accepted cases…
MOFCOM to Focus on Anti-Monopoly Legislation
On February 26, the Director of the Anti-Monopoly Bureau at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), Ming Shang, said in a press release that MOFCOM will focus on anti-monopoly legislation this year. Shang said one task facing MOFCOM would be the formulation of support measures to the “Interim Rule Regarding…