Massive EU fines for copper cartel

Five British firms are among 30 companies embroiled in a price fixing scandal that has seen the European Commission fine them £211 million. This, the fifth-biggest penalty ever imposed by EU competition watchdogs, comes in the wake of price-fixing cartel in the copper fittings market that took place between 1988 and 2004, with price lists agreed for Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Britain, Portugal and Sweden.

Tomkins received a £3.5 million fine for price fixing carried out by its former subsidiary, Pegler. IMI was fined £32.3 million, more than any other British company. Delta was fined £18.9 million, Flowflex £900 000 and Advanced Fluid Connections (AFC), which went into receivership in March, £12 million.

The Commission said in a statement that its investigation had found that the companies had met in Paris to discuss prices and had uncovered scribbled notes by British competitors signalling price rises using a specific code for each company.

Some of the companies, including Delta and AFC, had continued with the cartel or given misleading information to Brussels after it began probing the industry, resulting in their fines being increased.

EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “We will not only punish firms severely for cartel behaviour, but also increase the fines for flagrantly continuing after a Commission raid and for providing wrong or misleading information.”

Mueller had its fine waived for blowing the whistle on the scheme. Aalberts of the Netherlands received about a third of the total penalty. The company was fined £68.1 million, almost double its first-half net profit of £34.4 million.