Article by Ronald B. Ravikoff and Michael S. Pasano
Companies increasingly recognize the value of adopting sophisticated compliance programs to ensure that their employees remain within the bounds of federal and state laws that prohibit price fixing and related activities.
A compliance program is worthwhile for the same reason an insurance policy is: to cover potentially devastating risks. Violations of criminal antitrust laws may result in felony convictions punishable by imprisonment and fines as high as $350,000 for individuals and $10,000,000 for corporations. Short of criminal liability, violations of antitrust laws may give rise to government investigations under both the Federal Trade Commission Act and similar state acts. Enforcement activity typically leads to private litigation, with the threat of treble damages, disruptive injunctions, and huge attorneys’ fees.
