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International Antitrust Law & Policy: Fordham Corporate Law 2003 - Hardcover
International Antitrust Law & Policy: Fordham Corporate Law 2003 - PDF
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Chapter 3
AN OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
IN THE ANTITRUST DIVISION’S CRIMINAL
ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
James M. Griffin†
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the mid-1990’s, the Antitrust Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice (“Division”) has employed a strategy of
concentrating its enforcement resources on international cartels that
victimize American businesses and consumers. This enforcement
emphasis has led to remarkable success in terms of cracking international
cartels, securing the convictions of major conspirators and obtaining
record-breaking fines. However, international convictions and high fines
do not begin to tell the whole story. The last three years have seen a
substantial increase in the average jail sentence and a string of consecutive
record-breaking jail sentences, including one defendant sentenced to ten
years imprisonment for his role in orchestrating a bid-rigging, bribery and
money laundering scheme. A new high was also reached last year in
terms of the total number of jail days imposed in Division cases — more
than 10,000. And this year (FY 03) the average jail sentence reached an all
time high of 21 months. As outlined in the summary below, there is no
question that the stakes have continued to rise for companies and their
executives who engage in antitrust offenses.
II. INTERNATIONAL CARTEL ENFORCEMENT
A. Investigations.
Currently, there are approximately 50 sitting grand juries
investigating suspected international cartel activity. International cartel
investigations account for close to half of the Division’s criminal
investigations. The subjects and targets of the Division’s international
investigations are located on six continents and in nearly 25 different
countries. However, the geographic scope of the criminal activity is even
About the Editor:
Barry Hawk is Director of the Fordham Competition (formerly Corporate) Law Institute and Partner with Skadden Arps (New York and Brussels). He is former Vice Chair of the ABA Antitrust Section and former Chair of the New York State Bar Association Antitrust Section, as well as Professor at Fordham Law School and Visiting Professor at Michigan Law School, Monash University Law School, New York University Law School and the University of Paris.