CompetitionRSS

  • May 20, 2013

    Strine Tells Wal-Mart To Dig Deeper For Mexican Bribery Docs

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must conduct a more detailed search for documents requested by an institutional investor seeking information about how the retailer's board handled allegations of bribery by its Mexican affiliate, Delaware Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr. said Monday.

  • May 20, 2013

    Brazilian Antitrust Watchdog Clears Merger Case Backlog

    Brazil's antitrust watchdog proposed Friday blocking Armco Staco SA from buying Mangels Industrial SA's metallic barriers unit, clearing the final case from the agency's backlog of mergers filed almost a year ago as the country overhauled its merger regime.

  • May 20, 2013

    Pfizer Can't Shake Skelaxin Pay-For-Delay MDL

    A federal judge on Monday refused to dismiss multidistrict litigation accusing Pfizer Inc.'s King Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. Inc. of keeping generic versions of the muscle relaxer Skelaxin off the market, finding Rite Aid Corp. and others had plausibly alleged a conspiracy.

  • May 20, 2013

    Fighting Agencies May Be Tougher After High Court Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Monday ruling in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which held that courts should apply a deferential standard of review when federal agencies interpret the limits of their own authority, may make it tougher for regulated businesses to fight agency actions, attorneys say.

  • May 20, 2013

    Penn State Sanctions Don't Affect Competition, NCAA Says

    Attorneys for the National Collegiate Athletic Association asked a Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday to dismiss Gov. Tom Corbett’s suit challenging $60 million in fines levied against Penn State University, arguing that the complaint had failed to identify any relevant markets that would be impacted by the sanctions.

  • May 20, 2013

    Sony Wants Toshiba, HannStar Docs In LCD Cartel Suit

    A California federal judge should force Toshiba Corp. and HannStar Display Corp. to produce evidence in a suit rolled into multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing of liquid crystal display panels, two Sony Corp. units said Friday.

  • May 20, 2013

    7 Birdsall Execs Plead Not Guilty In Pay-To-Play Scheme

    Seven executives from engineering firm Birdsall Services Group on Monday pled not guilty in a New Jersey state court after being indicted in a pay-to-play scheme in which they are accused of concealing illegal corporate campaign contributions by masking them as personal employee donations.

  • May 20, 2013

    Investors Give Libor Antitrust Claims Another Shot

    Investors pushed Friday to revive their antitrust claims against Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other top banks accused of rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate as part of multidistrict litigation over the rate scandal.

  • May 20, 2013

    Cinemark To Divest 19 Theaters In $220M Rave Deal

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday said Cinemark Holdings Inc. and its sister company have agreed to divest 19 movie theaters in Kentucky, New Jersey and Texas in order to win the federal agency's approval of Cinemark's $220 million acquisition of Rave Holdings LLC.

  • May 20, 2013

    Ex-Morgan Stanley Exec Fights Kickback Rap In 2nd Circ.

    A former Morgan Stanley & Co. executive asked the Second Circuit on Monday to overturn a conviction on charges he steered stock-loan business to his family in exchange for kickbacks, arguing that some work was performed for the money.

  • May 20, 2013

    Apple, Amazon Fight Over Confidentiality In E-Book Case

    Amazon Inc. told a New York federal court Friday that filings in multidistrict litigation alleging Apple Inc. conspired with publishers to fix e-book prices contained business information that should be confidential, prompting Apple to argue the Amazon information was critical to its defense.

  • May 20, 2013

    NYU Researchers Charged In Chinese Bribes-For-Secrets Plot

    Three New York University researchers have been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for secretly providing medical research to Chinese companies, sharing work that was funded by the National Institutes of Health with the university's competitors, authorities said Monday.

  • May 20, 2013

    Agencies Deserve Deference On Jurisdiction, Justices Say

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts should apply a deferential standard of review toward a federal agency's definition of its own jurisdiction, siding with the Federal Communications Commission in a fight with local government agencies over zoning rules for wireless facilities.

  • May 20, 2013

    Latham Blasts Oxbow DQ Bid In Rail Price-Fixing MDL

    Latham & Watkins LLP said Friday it should be able to continue representing Union Pacific Railroad Co. in multidistrict price-fixing litigation, slamming Oxbow Carbon & Mineral LLC for allegedly dropping most of its original arguments in a bid to disqualify the firm.

  • May 20, 2013

    Google Faces Antitrust Probe From Canadian Watchdog

    Canada's antitrust watchdog has begun investigating Google Inc.'s local unit, the Internet search giant said Monday, as it continues to face global inquiries over allegations that it has manipulated its search results to thwart rivals.

  • May 20, 2013

    Manhattan DA Asks Albany To Pass Gov.'s Anti-Corruption Bill

    Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. told Albany lawmakers to pass New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed anti-corruption crackdown this spring, saying Monday that the "strong, significant" reforms need not wait for the recommendations of a high-profile white-collar task force due in July.

  • May 20, 2013

    Teradyne Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Chip Testing Equipment

    Teradyne Inc. was hit Friday with antitrust and contract claims in Massachusetts federal court over an alleged effort to drive Boston Semi Equipment LLC from the market for repairing and selling used Teradyne semiconductor testing equipment.

  • May 17, 2013

    MetroPCS Ditches Challenge To FCC Net Neutrality Regs

    MetroPCS Communications Inc., which recently merged with T-Mobile USA Inc., has dropped its challenge in the D.C. Circuit to the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules preventing Internet service providers from blocking or discriminating against legitimate websites, T-Mobile confirmed Friday.

  • May 17, 2013

    ING Gave Morgan Stanley Kickbacks For 401(k) Biz, Suit Says

    An Alabama medical laboratory filed a proposed class action in New York federal court on Friday alleging Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. encouraged the lab to use ING Life Insurance and Annuity Co. to administer its employees' 401(k) plan because ING paid the brokerage firm extra fees.

  • May 17, 2013

    Ex-Broker Gets Probation For Muni Bond Bid-Rigging

    After cooperating with a sweeping multistate investigation, the former CEO of a New York-based brokerage was sentenced to two years of probation Friday for his role in a municipal bond bid-rigging conspiracy.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 UK Bribery Act Myths — Debunked

    Eli Richardson

    The U.K. Bribery Act is somewhat complicated. Not surprisingly, therefore, misperceptions have arisen regarding its provisions, especially regarding the requirements, scope and exclusivity of Section 7 corporate liability, says Eli Richardson of Bass Berry & Sims PLC.

  • Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream

    Michael Moscato

    The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.

  • Unprecedented FCPA Wake-Up Call For US Broker-Dealers

    Mauro Wolfe

    The extraordinary criminal bribery charges against two registered representatives of a U.S. broker-dealer and a high-level Venezuelan government official highlight that a broker-dealer’s anti-money laundering procedures, as well as oversight of their registered people, should have a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act component if the firm is doing international business, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.

  • 5 Overlooked Reasons To Be Class Rep In An Antitrust Suit

    Kellie Lerner

    In many circumstances in antitrust litigation, standing up as a class representative may be an effective way to protect the company’s interests while assuring that it and other victims of anti-competitive behavior receive the monetary recovery they deserve, say Kellie Lerner and Ryan Marth of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.

  • Libor Litigation Must Overcome Significant Obstacles

    Michael T. Gass

    When U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald dismissed a consolidated, multidistrict batch of antitrust and racketeering suits in Manhattan earlier this spring, she suggested plaintiffs seeking to recover from banking giants at the heart of the interest rate-fixing scandal might have better luck with securities fraud claims. But those plaintiffs will need to be lucky indeed. Two recent developments show that obstacles are inherent and, perhaps, insurmountable, say attorneys with Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.

  • More DOJ Use Of Cooperating Witnesses In Corruption Cases

    Douglas Small

    The emergence of a cooperating witness begins to complete the puzzle of the scheme to defraud and catapults the investigation to new heights. A recent arrest by the FBI in an ongoing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation appears to follow this same modus operandi, says Douglas Small of Berkeley Research Group LLC.

  • 4 Takeaways From 2nd Highest FCPA Penalty

    Guy Singer

    A New York federal court recently entered a final judgment against a former Siemens AG executive for his alleged role in a purported $100 million bribery scheme for Siemens to obtain a $1 billion contract from Argentina. Third-party sham contracts continue to be a prevalent theme in the alleged facts contained in corruption enforcement filings and resolutions, say attorneys with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

  • Calif. To Draw The Lines In Disparagement Liability

    Tyler Gerking

    The California Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Swift Distribution Inc. will resolve a hot debate about the scope of implied disparagement liability under California law, likely determining whether insurers must defend lawsuits involving allegations of intellectual property infringement, unfair competition and false advertising, says Tyler Gerking of Farella Braun & Martel LLP.

  • 10 Steps To Effective Anti-Corruption Compliance

    Michael Volkov

    In order to implement the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act resource guide's critical instructions for corporate boards, senior executives and compliance professionals for designing an “effective” anti-corruption compliance program, companies must tackle 10 essential tasks, says Michael Volkov of The Volkov Law Group LLC.

  • DOJ Biz Review Letter Highlights Patent Pool Concerns

    Bill Dolan

    The U.S. Department of Justice's unusual business review letter in response to Intellectual Property Exchange International Inc.'s proposed financial exchange for licensing and trading IP rights serves as a useful reminder of the benefits and drawbacks of the business review letter process and, perhaps, a cautionary note on group patent licensing activities, say William Dolan and Geoffrey Oliver of Jones Day.