Price-Fixing Alleged Among Bearing Manufacturers

This story began when the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) initiated an investigation in July of 2011 into the possibility that price fixing might be going on in the automotive bearing industry.  Apparently, in Japan, the first conspirator to come forward and admit to a conspiracy is rewarded with some leniency.  In this case the first company to crumble was JKETK Corporation (Koyo),  which admitted to engaging in price-fixing with three other Japanese manufacturers.  It is reported that this admission was made before the investigation began.  The three alleged co-consirators were NTN, NSK, and Nachi.  It has been reported that certain executives from these three companies are facing criminal charges in Japan.  Japan has broadened the investigation to include industrial machinery bearings.

Meanwhile, the JFTC alerted both US and European investigators to what was going on and these began their own investigations.  The United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") has instituted a criminal investigation regarding the anti-competitive conduct in the market for automotive bearings and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") has participated in raids, pursuant to search warrants, carried out in some of the defendants' offices in connection with a probe into the automotive industry.  The European Commission Competition Authority ("EC") has also conducted dawn raids at the European offices of several of the defendants.

A civil class action lawsuit has been filed in the USA against six of the seven members of the World Bearing Association. The defendants include:  JTEKT Corporation (Koyo); Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp and Nachi-Fujikoshi America; NSK Ltd.; Schaeffler AG; AB SKF; NTN Corp; and NTN USA.  The initial suit is for Automotive bearings, but it is possible that it may be expanded to include industrial bearings as well.

It is interesting to note that it is not the first time such price-fixing allegations have been made against any of these defendants.