2011/9/30 古河電気工業

自動車用ワイヤーハーネス・カルテルに関する米国司法省との合意について
　

1.事実の概要
　当社は、2011 年9 月29 日（米国時間）、米国司法省との間で、自動車用ワイヤーハーネスおよび同関連製品に係る競合他社とのカルテルに関して、今後の刑事裁判手続きにおいて当社が米国司法省による起訴事実を認め罰金200 百万米ドルを支払うこと等を内容とする、司法取引に合意致しました。

他に3人が禁固刑

2.決定の理由
　当社グループは、米国司法省が実施してきた当社グループを含む自動車用ワイヤーハーネスおよび同関連製品メーカーに対する調査に、全面的に協力して参りました。この度、適用法令、事実関係等を総合的に勘案した結果、米国司法省との間で司法取引契約を締結することと致しました。

3.当社の業績に与える影響
　本件に伴い、平成24 年3 月期第2 四半期決算において、15,296 百万円を特別損失として計上致します。なお、本日付けで公表した「特別損失の計上及び業績予想の修正に関するお知らせ」のとおり、平成24 年3 月期の業績予想を修正しております。

4.役員報酬の返上について
　当社および社会に及ぼす影響の大きさを考慮し、経営として深い反省を込め、次のとおり役員報酬の一部返上を行うことと致しました。
　代表取締役 会長 石原 廣司 50% 3 ヶ月
　代表取締役 社長 �@田 政雄 50% 3 ヶ月
　取締役兼執行役員常務 電装・エレクトロニクスカンパニー長 柳本 正博 30% 3 ヶ月
　執行役員 電装・エレクトロニクスカンパニー自動車部品事業部長 信崎 卓 25% 3 ヶ月

5.再発防止策
　当社グループでは、2009 年12 月に「独占禁止法違反問題に関する第三者調査委員会」による報告書を公表し、同委員会の提言に基づく再発防止策を実行して参りました。また、同委員会の調査と並行して社外弁護士による徹底的な調査を実施し、過去に問題のあった行為については再発のないことを確認するとともに、疑いのある行為の全てを停止しております。
　今後も引き続き信頼回復に向け、国内外すべてのグループ会社において、コンプライアンスの徹底を図って参ります。

米当局は住友電工、矢崎総業、フジクラにも立ち入り検査をしている。

ーーー

公取委は又、車の配線に使うワイヤハーネスでも、本年2月に住友電気工業、古河電気工業、矢崎総業などに立入り調査を行い、調査を進めている。
これについては、日本の公取委に加え、自国の市場にも悪影響を与えた疑いがあると判断して、米、英、豪、カナダ、欧州委員会の5つの海外当局が調査に着手しているとされている。

2010/11/30 公取委、建設・電販向け電線カルテルで排除措置命令及び課徴金納付命令

公取委は2011年6月、矢崎総業、住友電工、フジクラの3社に総額120億円超の課徴金納付命令、矢崎とフジクラに排除命令を下す方針を決め、事前通知している。
古河電工は立ち入り検査を受けたが、減免制度を利用したとみられ、課徴金納付と排除命令を免除された。

2011/9/29　AP

Auto parts firm to pay $200M fine for price fixing

Carmakers were forced to pay more for auto parts because a group of suppliers conspired to raise prices for more than a decade, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The scheme, revealed in documents filed with the federal court in Detroit, likely raised prices that consumers paid for cars.

In the documents, federal prosecutors charged a Japanese company and three of its executives with conspiracy to restrain trade. Prosecutors said the company, Furukawa Electric Co. of Tokyo, agreed to plead guilty and pay a $200 million fine, while the executives also will admit guilt and serve prison time in the U.S.

Furukawa, which makes automobile wiring, is part of a wider investigation into an auto parts cartel that rigged prices in the U.S. and Japan, according to the documents.

"This cartel harmed an important industry in our nation's economy," said Sharis Pozen the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's antitrust division. She called the fine "one of our largest."

It was unclear how many automakers were affected by the conspiracy, how many models were affected and how much the price-fixing scheme inflated parts prices.

The Justice Department did not identify the other companies involved in the cartel.

Starting in January 2000, Furukawa conspired with other cartel members to fix prices of wiring harnesses that were sold to car manufacturers in the U.S. and elsewhere "on a model-by-model basis," Pozen told reporters at a Washington news conference.

The harnesses are groups of wires that link electronic controls to everything from brake lights to transmissions.

Pozen said the Justice Department is working with international authorities in the probe, though she declined to identify them.

Asked if prices were fixed and bids rigged for other auto parts, Pozen responded that the investigation is "broad."

The company and the three executives have all agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department.

The three Furukawa executives, all Japanese nationals, will serve prison time in the U.S ranging from a year and a day to 18 months. It is rare for foreign executives to serve any U.S. prison time for price-fixing, much less serious felony time of more than a year behind bars.

DOJ　　
　

According to the plea agreements, Funo, Nagata and Ukai have agreed to plead guilty for their roles in the conspiracy and to serve prison time in the United States of a year and a day, 15 months and 18 months, respectively.  The department said that Funo, Nagata and Ukai participated in the conspiracy at various times from at least as early as April 2003, until at least July 2009.  Funo worked in the Honda sales division of Furukawa in Japan and in the United States as a sales representative, assistant general manager and manager.  Nagata was employed by a Furukawa subsidiary in the United States as a general manager of sales and chief financial officer, and by a related joint venture as marketing manager.  Ukai worked in Japan in the Honda sales division of Furukawa as a manager, unit chief and general manager.  

During at least part of the conspiracy, two of the executives who are pleading guilty — Junichi Funo and Hirotsugu Nagata — engaged in price-fixing in the Detroit area, the Justice Department said. Court papers identified the third executive as Tetsuya Ukai. Two of the executives worked in the Honda sales division.

Justice Department Spokeswoman Gina Talamona said she did not know if the executives will have to be extradited from Japan.

Honda alone has sold more than 15 million vehicles in the U.S. since January 2000, so the company could have been overcharged by hundreds of millions of dollars, said Jim Gillette, an analyst with the firm IHS Automotive, which advises auto parts suppliers.

Most cars have at least four wiring harnesses that cost automakers around $100 each depending on their complexity, Gillette said.

Honda, he said, probably had to absorb most of the added cost. That is because it has been difficult to raise prices in recent years due to competition.

Honda spokesman Ed Miller would say only that federal authorities told the company of the investigation in early 2010, and Honda is cooperating in the probe.

Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former federal prosecutor, said more companies will be charged as the Justice Department gets information from the Furukawa executives.

Automakers are likely to sue the companies to recover millions of dollars, he said.

"You can piggyback on the criminal conviction because that establishes that they were involved in price fixing," Henning said.

Word of the investigation surfaced in February of 2010 when the FBI raided the U.S. offices of three parts makers that supply Toyota Motor Corp. and other manufacturers.

The FBI's Detroit office said at the time that agents raided the offices of Denso Corp., Yazaki North America and Tokai Rika. Spokesmen for Yazaki and Tokai Rika said Thursday that the investigations continue and they are cooperating. Messages were left for a Denso spokeswoman.

Furukawa and the three executives are each charged with conspiring to violate the Sherman Act in restraint of trade. Talamona said she did not know when the executives would appear in court.

JANUARY 30, 2012 Justice Department

Yazaki Corp., Denso Corp. and four Yazaki Executives agree to plead guilty to automobile parts price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies

Companies Agree to Pay a Total of $548 Million in Criminal Fines–Includes Second Largest Criminal Fine Ever for an Antitrust Violation; Executives Agree to Serve Prison Time

Two Japanese suppliers of automotive electrical components–Yazaki Corporation and DENSO Corporation–have agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $548 million in criminal fines for their involvement in multiple price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies in the sale of parts to automobile manufacturers in the United States, the Department of Justice today announced. Four executives, all Japanese nationals, have also agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time in the United States.

Yazaki has agreed to pay a $470 million criminal fine–the second largest criminal fine obtained for a Sherman Act antitrust violation–and DENSO has agreed to pay a $78 million criminal fine. The four executives from Yazaki–Tsuneaki Hanamura, Ryoji Kawai, Shigeru Ogawa and Hisamitsu Takada–will serve prison time ranging from 15 months to two years. The two-year sentences would be the longest term of imprisonment imposed on a foreign national voluntarily submitting to U.S. jurisdiction for a Sherman Act antitrust violation. The fine amount and prison sentences are subject to court approval.

"As a result of the Antitrust Division's ongoing criminal investigation of price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, more than $748 million in fines have been obtained–which already surpasses the total amount in criminal fines obtained by the division for all of last fiscal year," said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. "Criminal antitrust enforcement remains a top priority and the Antitrust Division will continue to work with the FBI and our law enforcement counterparts to root out this kind of pernicious cartel conduct that results in higher prices to American consumers and businesses."

"I would like to commend the employees of the FBI's Detroit Field Office and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, for their fine work on this very important antitrust investigation. This team has devoted countless hours to the investigation and I appreciate their devotion to the mission. The companies involved in this case conspired to the price fixing and bid rigging of automotive parts. This criminal activity has a significant impact on the automotive manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe and had been occurring at least a decade. The conduct had also affected commerce on a global scale in almost every market where automobiles are manufactured and/or sold," said FBI's Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena.

According to court documents filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, Yazaki, DENSO, Hanamura, Kawai, Ogawa, Takada and their co-conspirators carried out the conspiracies by agreeing, during meetings and conversations, to allocate the supply of the named products on a model-by-model basis and to coordinate price adjustments requested by automobile manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere. They sold automotive electrical components to automobile manufacturersat inflated prices and engaged in meetings and conversations for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme.

According to a three-count felony charge, Yazaki engaged in three separate conspiracies: to rig bids for and fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products from 2000 through 2010; to rig bids for and fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of instrument panel clusters from 2002 through 2010; and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of fuel senders from 2004 through 2010. All three conspiracies involved products sold to customers in the United States and elsewhere. Automotive wire harnesses are automotive electrical distribution systems used to direct and control electronic components, wiring and circuit boards in cars. Instrument panel clusters, also known as meters, are the mounted array of instruments and gauges housed in front of the driver of an automobile. Fuel senders reside in the fuel tank of an automobile and measure the amount of fuel in the tank.

According to a two-count felony charge, DENSO engaged in conspiracies to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of electronic control units (ECUs) and heater control panels (HCPs) sold to customers in the United States and elsewhere. An ECU is an embedded system that controls one or more of the electronic systems or subsystems in a motor vehicle. HCPs are located in the center console of an automobile and control the temperature of the interior environment of a vehicle.

According to four separate one-count felony charges, Hanamura, Kawai, Ogawa and Takada each engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products sold to customers in the United States and elsewhere. The department said that the individuals participated in the conspiracies at various times from at least as early as January 2000, until at least February 2010. During the conspiracies, the individuals held the following positions: Hanamura was a branch manager at Yazaki North America in Columbus, Ohio, and a Honda division sales manager in Japan; Kawai was director of Toyota Sales of Yazaki North America in Lexington, Ky., and vice division head of Yazaki's Toyota Business Unit in Japan; Ogawa was assistant section manager and later section manager in Yazaki's Honda Business Unit in Japan, and branch manager in Yazaki's Honda Sales Unit and later director at Yazaki North America in Columbus; Takada was assistant manager in Yazaki's Toyota Business Unit, director of Yazaki North America in Lexington, and manager of a sales department of Yazaki's Toyota Business Unit in Japan. According to the plea agreements, which are subject to court approval, Ogawa and Takada have each agreed to serve 15 months in a U.S. prison. Hanamura and Kawai have each agreed to serve two years in a U.S. prison. Each of the four executives has also agreed to pay a $20,000 criminal fine. According to the plea agreements, Yazaki, DENSO, Hanamura, Kawai, Ogawa and Takada have all agreed to assist the department in its ongoing investigation into the automotive parts industry.

On Nov. 14, 2011, Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $200 million fine for its role in the wire harnesses price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracy. Three of Furukawa's executives also pleaded guilty. The court sentenced two of the executives to 15 and 18 month prison sentences, to be served in the United States. Sentencing of the third executive, who agreed to serve a year and a day in prison in the United States, is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2012.

Yazaki and DENSO are charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum $100 million criminal fine for a corporation. Hanamura, Kawai, Ogawa and Takada are also charged with a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for an individual. The maximum fine for both a company and an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Today's charges arise from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into bid rigging, price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's National Criminal Enforcement Section and the FBI's Detroit Field Office with the assistance of the FBI headquarters' International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information concerning the focus of this investigation is urged to call the Antitrust Division's National Criminal Enforcement Section at 202-307-6694 or the FBI's Detroit Field Office at 313-965-2323.