CCS Fines Capacitor Manufacturers Involved in Global Cartel for Price-fixing and Information Exchange

Case Title:

CCS Fines Capacitor Manufacturers Involved in Global Cartel for Price-fixing and Information Exchange

Decision Date:

5 January 2018

Case Summary:

The Competition Commission of Singapore (“CCS”) has issued an Infringement Decision against five capacitor manufacturers (“the Parties”) for engaging in anti-competitive agreements. The agreements include price-fixing and the exchange of confidential sales, distribution and pricing information for Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitors[1] (“AECs”) in relation to customers in Singapore, thereby infringing section 34 of the Competition Act (Cap. 50B) (the “Act”).

The Parties are:

1. ELNA Electronics (S) Pte. Ltd. (“ELNA”);

2. Nichicon (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (“Nichicon”);

3. Panasonic Industrial Devices Singapore, and Panasonic Industrial Devices Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (collectively referred to as “Panasonic”);

4. Rubycon Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“Rubycon”); and

5. Singapore Chemi-con (Pte.) Ltd. (“SCC”).

The harm to competition was for a protracted period of time as this was a long-running cartel made up of the major suppliers of AECs in ASEAN, including Singapore. The Parties have therefore committed a serious infringement of the Act.

This is CCS's third case involving a global cartel. Besides Panasonic which received total immunity from financial penalties, ELNA, Rubycon and SCC were also awarded a discount further to their application for leniency under CCS’s leniency programme which accords lenient treatment to companies that come forward to CCS with information on their cartel activities. The total financial penalties amount to $19,552,464.

Further information on the investigation, analysis of the case and the basis of calculation of the financial penalty imposed on the infringing parties are set out in the Infringement Decision.

Useful links:

Infringement Decision and Media Release