The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

Formal Charges May Be Next in Europe’s Google Antitrust Inquiry.  Although Europe’s antitrust investigation of Google has dragged on without a settlement for nearly five years, the internet giant’s breathing room may soon come to an end.  Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust chief, will make her first trip to Washington on Wednesday to participate in two antitrust conferences. The visit has raised expectations that she may be on the verge of announcing some action against Google.

U.S. announces first antitrust e-commerce prosecution.  The U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division has announced its first prosecution specifically targeting Internet commerce, saying a man has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to illegally fix the prices of posters he sold online.  David Topkins was accused of conspiring with other poster sellers to manipulate prices on Amazon Marketplace, a website for third-party sellers.  Topkins was accused of violating the Sherman Act by conspiring with other poster sellers to use algorithms, for which he wrote computer code, to coordinate price changes.

Shell-BG takeover to test China’s pledge on antitrust transparency.  Royal Dutch Shell’s $70 billion bid for BG Group will test a pledge by China’s antitrust regime to be more transparent, after it faced strong criticism last year from the United States and Europe.  China’s new competition law has been a wildcard for large international deals in recent years, particularly where natural resources are concerned.