CSR News Stories

UK: 'Unlawful' tobacco pricing leads to 225m pound fine by OFT
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has fined two tobacco companies and nine retailers a total of 225m pounds for "unlawful" tobacco pricing practices.

US: Intel accused of 'bribery and coercion' by NY attorney-general
Intel has been targeted in a lawsuit detailing how it had allegedly maintained a dominant market position by using bribery and coercion to stifle fair competition.

Greece: BP and Shell fined for anti-competitive behaviour
BP and Shell have been fined around 50m euros for price fixing, according to Greece's Competition Commission.

EU: Glass makers cartel fined for price fixing
Four manufacturers of car windows who between them control 90 percent of the European market, have been fined 1.38bn euros after they were found guilty of running a price fixing scam that cheated customers.

EU: Banana importers fined for price fixing
The European Commission has fined some of the world's largest banana importers for 60m euros for colluding over prices of fruit in eight countries.

US: Former British Airways executive to be jailed for price fixing
The former commercial general manager of BA World Cargo is to serve eight months in jail after pleading guilty to fixing prices of air cargo shipments.
UK: Tobacco price fixing fines for six firms
Six companies including retailer Asda Walmart and tobacco firm Gallaher have agreed to pay fines of up to 173 UK pounds following a probe over unlawful pricing practices. An inquiry into other major companies is ongoing.
UK: Retailers in tobacco price probe
The UK's Office of Fair Trading has suggested that tobacco firms and supermarkets including Asda-Walmart, Sainsbury and Tesco, have been involved in an arrangement to swap information on future tobacco pricing which, whilst falling short of price-fixing, had the same effect for customers and would be, if proved, illegal.
Australia: Qantas faces charges over global air freight cartel
An action is to be launched against Qantas and other international airlines by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over an alleged cartel of air freight operators.
Microsoft fined after promises on software information doubted by EU
European Union regulators have fined Microsoft a further $1.3bn for abusing its global market dominance. The action came after the EU expressed doubts about the recent announcement by Microsoft that it would share more information about its technology to help third party software developers to make their products more interoperable with the Windows operating system.
Chemtura to be sued by tyre companies for price fixing
Three tyre companies, including Bridgestone, are to sue Chemtura seeking damages from goods that were purchased during a period when the company was found to be involved in price fixing.
Microsoft fined over $350m by European Commission
As expected, the European Commission has hit Microsoft with a fine for failing to comply with an antitrust order requiring it to share technical information about its Windows operating system with rivals.
BP faces US price-fixing charges
BP faces prosecution in the US over alleged price-fixing activities in the propane market. The US authorities have said that the company bought up large amounts of propane in 2004, pushing up the price by more than 40 percent.
Microsoft faces EU fine
The European Commission is thought to be ready to impose fines against Microsoft of 2m euros a day in a ruling that the company has failed to fully implement an antitrust finding in 2004.
British Airways investigated over alleged price fixing
British Airways is facing an investigation into an alleged cartel that fixed flight prices through fuel surcharges following an intervention by rival company Virgin Airline.
EU: Chemicals cartel fined 388m euros
Seven chemicals companies have been fined 388m euros for running a cartel that exchanged commercially important information and fixed prices of hydrogen peroxide and perborate.
Australia: Amcor faces class action over price fixing
Packaging firm Amcor is facing one of the biggest Australian class actions over allegations of anti-competitive activity, including price fixing.
US: Zurich Financial Services settles claim over bid-rigging
Zurich Financial Services is to pay $153m over charges by New York, Illinois and Connecticut of bid-rigging. The company, which has not admitted any illegality, was alleged to have conspired with other insurers to fix prices for policies.
Executives to plead guilty in Samsung price-fixing case
Three former executives of Samsung have agreed plead guilty to a price-fixing conspiracy involving Samsung, Infineon Technologies, Elpida and Hynix Semiconductor.
Microsoft faces new EU antitrust action
Some of Microsoft's key competitors have filed a new complaint accusing the company of a wide range of antitrust abuses. A group made up of IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Nokia, Red Hat, RealNetworks, Opera, Corel and Linspire have said that Microsoft is continuing to abuse its dominant position in the marketplace.

The Business Respect email newsletter has been produced since 2001 to give news and commentary on CSR worldwide
See the archive of past issues
Special Feature
Values carved in stone
While TV documentaries focus on children working in textiles, an altogether tougher, more difficult issue gets little attention. Watch this - and you'll never buy paving for your patio or driveway without asking a few questions first.
Interviews
Leo Martin: Lessons from eight years of GoodCorporation
Leo Martin gives some plain speaking on a range of issues relating to responsible business, with some lessons that are both insightful and provocative.


