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Australia: ACCC says too many cartels in Australia

By  |  August 7, 2016

There is too much cartel behaviour in Australia, the competition watchdog says, adding it will continue to advocate for “commercially relevant” penalties for misbehaving companies.

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    And fresh from launching its first criminal cartel case, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it had 10 to 12 criminal investigations underway and it was aiming for a “steady stream of one to two criminal cases per year”.

    “Hopefully this will send a clearer signal on cartel conduct,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a speech in Sydney on Friday.

    “There is too much of it occurring in Australia today to the considerable detriment of the Australian economy.” Cartel conduct was made a criminal act in 2009.

    The Director of Public Prosecutions laid charges against Japan-based shipping firm Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) last month. Penalties are to come.

    Mr Sims said the ACCC would “continue to advocate for increased penalties so obligations under the [Competition and Consumer] Act are front of mind for Australian businesses.”

    “Penalties must be commercially relevant: they must be high enough for businesses not to see them as merely an acceptable risk of doing business.

    Full Content: The Sidney Morning Herald

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