Italy’s Antitrust Authority has fined 15 shipping agents, as well as two trade associations, a total of €4 million for taking part in a cartel.

Bulgaria’s Competition Commission has accused oil companies Lukoil, Rompetrol, Naftex and OMW of fixing wholesale fuel prices.

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) yesterday fined 13 chemical wholesalers a total of €8.7 million, marking the end of its investigation of cartel activity in the sector.

Pakistan’s Competition Commission (CCP) has issued show cause notices to bank consortium 1-Link and its members, for allegedly fixing ATM and bank transfer charges.

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has conducted dawn raids on the headquarters and branch offices of four automobile light manufacturers, the latest section of the country’s auto-parts industry to be targeted over alleged cartel activity.

A federal jury has convicted AU Optronics and two of its executives of colluding with its rivals to fix the price of liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, securing a significant victory for the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division and leaving the company facing a potential US$1 billion fine.

France’s Competition Authority has fined 17 flour producers €242 million for cartel and other anti-competitive agreements to fix the price of flour, including arrangements to divide the market between France and Germany.

Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia says the European Commission is ready to settle its e-book investigation if the companies agree to change their pricing model, days after news emerged that the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division (DoJ) is discussing a settlement.

The US Department of Justice is close to filing antitrust lawsuits against technology company Apple and five of the country’s largest book publishers unless the companies agree to alter their model for selling electronic books, press reports indicate.

Iveco will appeal against a €30 million fine imposed by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) for its alleged participation in a cartel to fix the price of fire-fighting vehicles, despite having cooperated with the authority in the investigation.

The US Department of Justice’s antitrust division has told a New York federal court that it should not require financial services company Morgan Stanley to admit liability in an antitrust case before approving the company’s settlement with the government.

South Africa’s Competition Commission’s secured a further victory against a cement cartel today, reaching a settlement with Lafarge Industries.

France’s Competition Authority (FCA) has fined an endive cartel €3.65 million, and issued a reminder that the agriculture sector is not immune to competition law.

The EU General Court has reduced fines imposed by the European Commission on UPM-Kymmene Oyj and FLSmidth for colluding to fix the price of industrial plastic bags, but it rejected other claims by the companies.

A US appeals court has overturned a lower court’s ruling and reinstated a lawsuit claiming that copper products company Outokumpu and its affiliates conspired to fix the price of copper tubing sold in the US.