Partner John Cove (San Francisco-Antitrust & Litigation) have conducted a comparative analysis of parental liability in cartel infringements in the EU and the U.S. for Getting The Deal Through’s – Cartels published in August 2018.

Vigorous cartel enforcement remains the focus of both the U.S. and EU antitrust authorities. However, while both authorities are determined to hold cartel participants to account, there is a clear disparity of view between EU and U.S. law on the extent to which parent companies that are not themselves involved in the cartel can nevertheless be held liable for the cartel behavior of their subsidiaries. The conflicting approaches between the EU and U.S. regimes also affect the predictability for companies faced with multi-jurisdictional antitrust investigations. This article discusses the differing approaches to parental liability across the EU and U.S. and the practical considerations for companies faced with international antitrust investigations.

Read the chapter.