The table below shows the type of fines given
to companies to enforce competition rules:
|
| Crime | Punishment
|
|
| British Airways (BA) breached EU competition rules by providing cash incentives to travel agents to encourage customers to purchase BA tickets.
| European Commission fined BA £4 million.
|
| In 2004 the European Commission concluded Microsoft abused its market power in the EU
| Microsoft was fined €497 million. The Commission also required Microsoft to disclose to competitors, within 120 days, the interfaces required for their products to be able to "talk" with the ubiquitous Windows operating system.
|
| In March 2004 the EU imposed increased tariffs on a range of US goods . These were imposed in response to anti-competitive US tax breaks for American exporters.
| The sanctions were estimated to amount to as much as $300 million in 2004 and double that in 2005. Under WTO rules the EU is actually authorised to impose up to $4 billion in sanctions.
|
| The European Commission sued Philip Morris for complicity in smuggling cigarettes by oversupplying neighbouring countries where excise duties are lower. The estimated cost to European governments in lost tax revenue was put at $1 billion a year.
| In 2004 a settlement was reached under which Philip Morris agreed to pay European governments $1 billion a year in lost tax revenues.
|
Shell overstated its oil and gas reserves by
4.47 billion barrels between 1997 and 2002.
| Shell was fined a record £17 million by Britain's Financial Services Authority and had to pay a $120 million (£66 million) civil penalty to the US securities and exchange commissions.
|
|
| Sources: | |
| The Guardian, "US Pays China for embassy attack", 31 July 1999; The Guardian, "Cruise line fined $18 million for dumping waste at sea", 22 July 1999; The Guardian, "BA fined £4 million for illegal trading", 15 July 1999; The Guardian, "Rip-off firms face big fines", 9 August, 1999; European Commission Press Release: "Commission concludes on Microsoft investigations, imposes conduct remedies and a fine", Brussels, 24 March 2004. The Commission concluded Microsoft was leveraging its near monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media players; The Guardian, "Cigarette giant to pay $1 billion to EU", 6 April 2004; The Guardian, EU imposes sanctions on US goods, 1 March 2004; The Guardian, "US drops Shell criminal action", 1 July 2005.
|
