Just when you thought it could not get any worse, events remind us that things actually can get worse. Volkswagen suffered through a horrible scandal involving an elaborate scheme to circumvent emissions regulations. The scandal rocked VW and slowly stretched to other German auto manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Daimler and Porsche. It turns out that this coordination on the emissions testing equipment was just the...

Anti-corruption compliance programs are the rage now – is that a young person’s expression? Antitrust has been a forgotten stepchild, partly because of DOJ’s unwillingness to credit companies that maintain effective compliance programs. That is not a legitimate excuse since every company should be addressing antitrust compliance as part of an overall compliance program. Antitrust compliance, however, has been around for many years, and usually fell...

If you ask any Chief Compliance Officer whether their compliance program includes antitrust laws, they will respond quickly and tell you – “Of course we do.” If you follow up you initial question and ask how do you ensure compliance you will hear a single response – “We conduct training.” When you scratch the surface on antitrust compliance at major companies, you will usually hear...

The Department of Justice’s far-reaching criminal investigation into the alleged electronic capacitor cartel has borne fruit – NEC Tokin Corporation agreed to plead guilty and pay a $13.8 million criminal fine for conspiring with competitors between 2002 and 2013. NEC Tokin’s plea is the first criminal plea in this investigation, and the electronics manufacturing company also agreed to cooperate in the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation....