Gibson Dunn Report Highlights ‘Breathtaking Pace’ Of Aggressive Enforcement Of Criminal Antitrust Laws

The Gibson Dunn law firm is out with its annual update of criminal antitrust enforcement in 2009. The detailed report includes some startling facts: 

-          The first part of fiscal year 2009 ("FY 2009") continued the dramatic pace of huge criminal fines imposed by the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division in recent years, resulting in over $1 billion in fines for the year;
-          Although that pace tapered off in the second half of FY 2009, the DOJ had a strong start to the new fiscal year (FY 2010) – imposing $229 million in fines in the first quarter;
-          Individual criminal antitrust defendants, including foreign nationals, continued to receive substantial, multi-year prison terms in the United States; and
-          Criminal antitrust enforcement by jurisdictions outside of the United States (particularly in Australia and Japan) expanded, with the DOJ attempting to take a leading role in the convergence of international enforcement standards.
 
The full report is available at http://www.gibsondunn.com/Publications/Pages/2009Year-EndCriminalAntitrustUpdate.aspx.