Dawn raids and amnesty. (Editorial).The investigations into possible antitrust violations within the industry are getting surreal. We have had what is called "dawn raids Dawn Raid The action of a firm or investor buying a substantial amount of shares in a company (making it a target firm) first thing in the morning when the stock markets open. This is done by a stock broker acting on behalf of a company. " upon companies, unannounced inspections and the offering of amnesty. Dawn raids is the term the European Union's commission for competition called their actions when they supposedly "raided" numerous materials suppliers. The manufacturers of EPDM EPDM Ethylene-Propylene-Diene-Monomer EPDM Enterprise Product Data Management EPDM Ethylene Propylene Dimonomer (industrial/commercial piping/plumbing components) EPDM Engineering Product Data Management , heat stabilizers, impact modifiers, processing aids and carbon black have all been raided. The raiders were in search of evidence of cartel agreements and related illegal practices concerning price fixing price fixing n. a criminal violation of federal anti-trust statutes, in which several competing businesses reach a secret agreement (conspiracy) to set prices for their products to prevent real competition and keep the public from benefiting from price competition. and market sharing. Unannounced inspections have been used, but they just might be the politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but spin for those who feel the word raid is too harsh. They raided 14 European manufacturers of heat stabilizers, impact modifiers and processing aids, and claimed to have raided a "number" of EPDM suppliers. That number shouldn't have been that hard to come up with considering the total number of manufacturers of EPDM in Europe and the U.S. totals five--Crompton/Uniroyal, DuPont Dow, Bayer, DSM 1. DSM - Data Structure Manager. An object-oriented language by J.E. Rumbaugh and M.E. Loomis of GE, similar to C++. It is used in implementation of CAD/CAE software. DSM is written in DSM and C and produces C as output. and ExxonMobil. For some reason, ExxonMobil is not a target of the probe. Compton/Uniroyal has been granted amnesty in the EPDM investigation, which means they can avoid fines being levied by the various governments. And the fines can be substantial. The European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community recently levied fines on four companies in the plasterboard industry totalling 478 million euros; the Italian cement reinforcing bar cartel was fined 85 million euros; and a graphite specialties cartel 58 million euros. Crompton initiated the investigation when it contacted the authorities after internally discovering evidence of possible price collusion activity among the producers. While Crompton can avoid the governmental fines, it is the target of civil lawsuits, along with the other co-conspirators, by some of its suppliers. Freudenberg NOK NOK In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Norwegian Krone. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. , Duraplas Corp. and Reeves Brothers have already filed suit against the EPDM producers. Hopefully out of all this might come a clear definition of what price fixing means. I still have a hard time believing the gasoline industry isn't raided on a daily basis. Gas prices are yoyoed so often in concert between competitors that it defies coincidence. This isn't the first time this industry has been a target of collusion, but the civil suits are a new twist. I'm not so sure they're a welcome addition. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion