On 20 May 2021, the Commission found that Bank of America, Natixis, Nomura, RBS (now NatWest), UBS, UniCredit, and WestLB (now Portigon) participated in a cartel in the primary and secondary markets for European Government Bonds (EGB). The collusive behaviour lasted from 2007 to 2011, amidst a financial crisis and affected the European Economic Area […]

CNMC, the Spanish Competition Authority, has imposed a fine of EUR 59.67 million on 12 companies providing maintenance and management services for the country’s national highway networks. The firms were found to have manipulated tenders for road maintenance and operation services of the State Road Network between 2014 and 2018. In addition to the fines, […]

On 18 February 2022, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) sanctioned two pharmaceutical wholesalers, imposing a total fine of EUR 29.8 million on Pharma Belgium-Belmedis SA, after a 40% reduction for cooperation. Febelco CV received immunity from fines for having disclosed the existence of the cartel. Belgium: Pharmaceutical wholesalers sanctioned for collusion This is the BCA’s […]

On 11 March, the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority of the United Kingdom announced investigations into a suspicious agreement between Google and Facebook (not yet Meta at that time) in September 2018 related to online advertising. Both agencies believe that the agreement may have breached their respective competition rules on anti-competitive agreements […]

In January 2022, the Bundeskartellamt conducted unannounced dawn raids at the German premises of cable manufacturers and other companies active in the market of cable manufacturing. According to the statements published by the companies, these inspections concern the undertakings Nexans, Leoni, and Prysmian. The undertakings declared their willingness to cooperate with the Bundeskartellamt. The Bundeskartellamt […]

On 27 December 2021, the Spanish appeal court confirmed an earlier decision of the Spanish Competition Authority fining Telefónica and Distribuidora de Television Digital (DTS) for colluding in the acquisition of football rights and adjacent downstream markets. The Spanish court also upheld the imposed fine of 15.5 million euros. Spain: collusion in the markets related […]

On 29 September 2021, the Dutch Competition Authority fined tobacco manufacturers British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco International (JTI), and Imperial Tobacco 82 million euros for anti-competitively sharing confidential information about future prices. In the Netherlands, the infringement lasted from July 2008 to July 2011. On 1 October 2021, two days after the […]