ACTIONS CORNER

Daimler has been sanctioned in China to the tune of 53 million Euros for price fixing aganst a background of price manpulation in concert with certain Mercedes retailers in the province of Jiangsu. The monopolies commission ruled that the Mercedes Benz brand compact cars were in violation of the law on unfair competition to the detriment of consumers. The auto manufacturer allegedly fixed the minimum prices not only for spare parts but also for E and S class automobiles. The Chinese authorities have been monitoring the price policies implemented by manufacturers and other companies in the automobile industry since last year. In addition to BMW and Audi, the spotlight has been turned on Chrysler and other suppliers, some from Japan.

In a note dated April 23, NYDFS, the New York financial watchdog announced that Deutsche Bank is to disburse 2.5 thousand million dollars (2.33 thousand million Euros ) to call off the investigation into interest manipulation. One division of the bank had confessed in a US court of law to fraudulent conduct in LIBOR manipulation. The bank will pay NYDFS 600 million Dollars, 800 million Dollars to CFTC, the stock-market supervisory body, 775 million Dollars to the US Justice Department and 227 million pounds (340 million Dollars) to the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.