The first half of 2018 showed a marked increase in fines from the same period in 2017, several enforcement firsts, and a strong pipeline of new, mainly domestic cartel cases around the world.
In fact, three countries imposed their largest cartel fines to date in 2018: Egypt for 5.58 billion Egyptian pounds ($316.2 million) against four pharmaceutical companies; Australia for $46 million Australian ($34.6 million) against a wire harnesses manufacturer; and Singapore for $19.6 million Singapore ($14.7 million) against five capacitor manufacturers. At $2.17 billion, total global fines for the first half of 2018 far exceeded the $1.2 billion in fines for the same period in 2017.