CARTEL ENFORCEMENT
R&C: Could you provide an overview of the most significant developments in global cartel enforcement over the past 12 months or so? How would you describe enforcement activity levels – including cross-border collaboration and extraterritorial reach – during this period?
Hellings: Overall enforcement appears to have been down during the past year, but this is especially true with respect to international cartel enforcement. Despite the fact that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has publicly committed to prioritising international cartel enforcement, the most publicised DOJ cartel cases over the past year have been almost entirely domestic matters. The DOJ has faced considerable challenges in these domestic cases. These include the agency’s loss following two mistrials of its price-fixing case against broiler chicken company executives. The DOJ has suffered two other highly publicised losses in cases alleging an illegal no-poach agreement and wage-fixing – the first employment-related criminal antitrust cases the DOJ has brought. The agency has also continued to pursue conduct affecting government procurement, grant and programme funding through its procurement collusion strike force, and recently secured a conviction in a bid-rigging case against a former engineering firm executive.
Oct-Dec 2022 Issue
Hogan Lovells