Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On August 7, 2008, William E. Kovacic, the Federal Trade Commission Chairman, announced that Jeffery Schmidt, the Director of the Bureau of Competition for the past two and half years, will be leaving the FTC. Mr. Kovacic has named David P. Wales, the deputy director of the Bureau of Competition, as the Acting Director. Mr.…

After more than a decade of deliberations, the People’s Republic of China promulgated its Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”) at the Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress on August 30, 2007. The new law will go into effect tomorrow, August 1, 2008. Like the Indian Competition Act, which will be effective…

In 1999, the Government of India formed a committee to make recommendations regarding a modern competition law. The new competition law took the form of the Competition Act, 2002 which was enacted and notified in January 2003. It replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act constituted in 1970. However, due to some reservations within…

On July 31, 2008, Bennet Environmental Inc. (“BEI”), a Canadian soil treatment company, pled guilty and agreed to pay $1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) at a EPA designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote in Manville, NJ. According to the charges, BEI inflated prices…

On July 30, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) entered into a settlement agreement that allows McCormick & Company Inc.’s (“McCormick”) proposed $605 million acquisition of Lawry’s and Adolph’s brands of seasoned salt products from Unilever N.V. (“Unilever”) to proceed. According to the FTC’s complaint, McCormick’s Season-All brand competes with Lawry’s brands in the manufacture…

On July 29, 2008, Paul Wilkinson and Christopher Cartwright, two U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) contractors, pled guilty to defraud the United States, commit wire fraud and steal trade secrets from Matthew Bittenbender, another U.S. DOD contractor. In a three-count indictment returned on Dec. 5, 2007, and unsealed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Christopher…

On June 28, 2008, Manuli Rubber Industries SpA (“Manuli”), an Italian marine hose manufacturer, and Robert L. Furness, the former president of Manuli’s subsidiary Plantation, pled guilty for their role in a worldwide conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices, and allocate market share in the marine hose industry. Manuli agreed to pay $2 million in…

On July 28, 2008, Timothy Pfeil, a former executive for SAS Cargo Group A/S (“SAS”), pled guilty to serve six months in prison for his role in a worldwide conspiracy to fix air cargo rates for shipments to and from the United States. Mr. Pfeil, the second airline executive charged in this conspiracy, will cooperate…

On July 23, 2008, JMJ Environmental Inc. (“JMJ”), a wastewater treatment company, its owner, John Drimak Jr., and Norman Stoerr, a former contracts administrator, pled guilty to various counts of bid rigging, fraud, and tax evasion. These charges were all in connection with sub-contracts for wastewater treatment services at two Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) designated…

On July 17, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a complaint challenging the proposed $9 billion acquisition of V&S Vin & Sprit (“V&S”), a wholly owned corporation of the Kingdom of Sweden, by Pernod Ricard (“Pernod”), a wholly owned subsidiary of France-based Pernod. The FTC contends that the transaction is anticompetitive and violates U.S.…