Antitrust - Competition Law
What you should know

Antitrust enforcement is resurging — with major fines, dawn raids, and CEO-level accountability. Authorities are targeting both pricing practices and market dominance.

Why It Matters

Antitrust fines are substantial: over US$35 billion in Europe over the last 34 years. Major cases include:

  • Trucks: US $4.1Bn (2016–17)

  • Banking: US $1.5Bn (2019–21)

  • Brown Goods: US $1.5Bn (2012)

Jail time is real: KeithPacker, a senior airline executive, served 8 months in U.S. federal prison in 2010 for price-fixing. These risks impact financial performance, talent retention, and public trust.

Core Requirements

Across jurisdictions, Antitrust & Competition Risk regulations converge around three pillars:

All three are tightly monitored—and increasingly enforced in digital and globalized supply chains

Horizontal misconduct: Agreements between competitors (e.g., price-fixing).

Vertical misconduct: Supplier controls customer resale prices (e.g., resale price maintenance).

Abuse of dominance: A leading company imposes unfair conditions (e.g.,bundling, exclusive dealing, predatory pricing).

Compliance

Strategic Implications

  • EU, U.S., China and others are coordinating enforcement

  • Whistleblowers and leniency programs accelerate investigations

  • Internal emails, chats, and pricing models are subject to seizure

Your Leadership Checklist

Tone at the top: Leadership must clearly communicate zero tolerance for misconduct

Sales teams: Must be trained regularly—pressures to close deals can blur ethicalboundaries

Right expertise: Hiring one antitrust expert isn’t enough; cross-functional risk insight is essential.

Contract reviews: Systematically identify high-risk clauses—not just standard boilerplate language

Want the full picture?

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