Another Large Cartel Fine (and More to Come); This Time LCD Manufacturers
Three leading flat-screen producers — LG Display of South Korea, Sharp of Japan and Chunghwa Picture Tubes of Taiwan — pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a total of $585 million in criminal fines for their role in fixing the price of liquid-crystal display panels.LG is paying the most: a $400 million fine, the second-highest criminal fine ever imposed by the Justice Department’s antitrust division. …
The settlement, legal experts say, is unlikely to be the end of the flat-panel case. Under the settlement, the three companies have agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s continuing investigation. Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the department’s antitrust division, pointed out at a news conference on Wednesday that the American investigation involved the coordinated efforts of enforcement officials in Europe and Asia, as well as the United States.
Government investigations, legal specialists said, are under way in Europe, Japan and South Korea. In the United States, private class-action suits have already been filed seeking damages for companies that purchased flat-panel screens, and for consumers who bought flat-panel-equipped products. Some of the private suits, if successful, could provide a way for consumers to benefit, though the compensation for any individual would probably be slight.
DOJ has also issued a press release and Thomas Barnett’s statement is also online.
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