September Antitrust Bulletin

$500 Million Fine Imposed in Landmark International Cartel Case

On Sept. 20, 2012, a court sentenced AU Optronics, a Taiwanese manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, and its U.S. subsidiary to pay a $500 million criminal fine for its participation in a five-year conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels sold worldwide. At trial the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sought a fine above the Sherman Act maximum of $100 million under an alternative fine provision, which allows for imposition of a fine up to "twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss" of the conspiratorial conduct. A jury found that the company derived gains of at least $500 million from the conspiracy, potentially subjecting it to a criminal fine of $1 billion (which was the amount DOJ recommended the court impose). The $500 million fine matches the largest fine ever imposed against a company for violating U.S. antitrust laws. The court also placed the