European Commission fines Guess for online sales and advertising restrictions

The European Commission has imposed a €39.8 million fine on the fashion company Guess for online sales and advertising restrictions, reduced by 50% as a result of the company’s admissions.

The Commission found that Guess limited its retail distributors from using its trademarks and brand names for online search advertising or online selling without its permission.  The arrangements also restricted retailers in selling outside their allocated territory, making cross-supplies to other authorised distributors and independently setting retail prices.

The Commission maintains that Guess divided markets in eastern and central Europe where retail prices for its products were, on average, 5-10% higher than in western Europe.

The Commission reduced the fine by 50% to take account of the fact that Guess drew the practices to its attention and provided significant information for the antitrust investigation.  Guess also admitted liability and its participation in the infringement. 

This case is among the first cases where Commission has used its new cooperation procedure in respect of non-cartel conduct and where an investigated party admits the facts and liability in return for a reduction in the fine.

The probe was launched on the back of the Commission’s e-commerce sector inquiry.

 

 

Construction firm suppliers settle cartel investigation by CMA

Construction firm suppliers settle cartel investigation by CMA

The Competition and Markets Authority has issued a statement of objections in its investigation into suspected cartel activity in the supply of precast concrete drainage products to the construction industry in violation of the Chapter I prohibition and Article 101 TFEU.

The CMA's statement of objections is addressed to: Stanton Bonna Concrete Limited and its parent companies Bonna Sabla SA, Consolis Finance SAS; Consolis SAS, and Consolis Group SAS; CPM Group Limited; and FP McCann Limited.

Stanton Bonna Concrete Limited and CPM Group Limited have admitted their participation in a seven year cartel which started in 2006 and have agreed to pay fines which will be determined at the end of the CMA’s investigation.  FP McCann Limited is still under investigation and has not made any admissions.

The CMA maintains that throughout the period of the alleged cartel activity the participants were leading players and from 2010 accounted for 90% of the market.

The CMA will consider representations on the statement of objections before March 2019.

European Commission consults on commitments offered in Mastercard and Visa inter-regional interchange fees case

 

 

The European Commission is market-testing separate commitments offered by Mastercard and Visa to address competition concerns under Article 101 TFEU relating to their inter-regional interchange fees for debit and credit card payments. 

Inter-regional interchange fees are charged on payments made with cards issued outside the EEA for purchases made in the EU.  These payments are typically made by tourists.

The Commission's earlier decisions on Mastercard’s and Visa’s interchange fees have concerned multi-lateral interchange fees for payment cards issued in the EEA.

The Interchange Fee Regulation (Regulation 2015/751) does not apply to cards issued outside the EEA.

Mastercard and Visa, in separate offers of commitments, have both agreed to a cap on the level of their interchange fees (for a period of five years and six months) at 0.2% of the value of the transaction for debit cards and 0.3% of the value of the transaction for credit cards for card payments carried out in a store, and 1.15% and 1.5% respectively for online debit and credit card transactions.

CMA consults on referring funeral services for in-depth market review

The Competition and Markets Authority has published its interim findings on its market study into the supply of funerals in the UK.  It is consulting on whether to make a market investigation into the supply of funeral director and crematoria services.

The CMA is concerned that various features of the market prevent, restrict or distort competition including customers' vulnerability and difficulty in engaging at the point of need and unresponsiveness to indicators of price and quality.

The possible reference comes at a time of increasing regulatory scrutiny of the funeral services sector.  In July the government issued a call for evidence in relation to the pre-paid funeral sector, including, potentially, the impact of additional regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The CMA invites views on whether it should exercise its discretion to make a market investigation reference by 4 January 2019.