Press Release

Morgan Lewis Report: Aggressive Cartel Investigation and Enforcement Continue on Global Scale

Monday, February 23, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 23, 2015: Morgan Lewis today released its Global Cartel Enforcement Report providing an overview of cartel enforcement in 2014. Competition enforcement authorities around the world remained aggressive in their prosecution of cartels, collecting more than $6.5 billion in fines in 2014. The full report includes a review of emerging trends, industries of focus, and key developments in cartel enforcement and related litigation.

While the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has historically led the way in cartel prosecutions, other countries are becoming increasingly aggressive in pursuing fines or jail terms for cartel offenses. The European Union imposed the greatest fines in cartel cases in 2014, followed by Brazil and the United States, and several other countries collected more than $100 million in cartel fines last year. In addition to fines, competition agencies are increasingly seeking jail terms for executives involved in cartel offenses. Jail terms are on the rise in the United States, and several other countries have recently adopted laws making individuals criminally liable for cartel violations. The automotive and financial services industries continued to be a focus of cartel enforcement activity in 2014, as did the electronics, food, and construction industries.