Global Cartel Report: Antitrust Enforcement Authorities Remain Active Despite Nearly 50% Drop in Fines

Washington, DC, January 22, 2018: Consistent with recent years, global enforcement authorities remained extremely active in 2017, opening many new investigations and advancing others, according to Morgan Lewis’s latest Global Cartel Enforcement Report. Despite this activity, fines were significantly lower in 2017 than in recent years, as several major investigations concluded and other major investigations remain at early stages. The report found that at just above $4.2 billion, the year’s total fines showed a decrease of more than $3.5 billion from 2016.

Produced by the firm’s leading antitrust and competition team, the cartel report is a comprehensive analysis examining the following 2017 trends in antitrust compliance programs and antitrust criminal liability:

• A significant uptick in enforcement directed toward domestic cartels and individual criminal prosecutions
• Continued scrutiny of the auto parts, financial services, and shipping industries
• A prioritization by more countries of anti-cartel enforcement, particularly in Asia
• The expansion of global authorities’ extraterritorial jurisdiction

Read the full report for notable cartel fines by region, including individual criminal penalties, a look at the year’s new investigations and cases, and important policy and judicial developments.