ICA‘s investigation of Eimskip‘s collusion violations concluded with a settlement

The Icelandic Competition Authority (ICA) has been investigating possible
infringements of Article 10 of the Icelandic Competition Law and Article 53 of
the EEA agreement by Eimskip and Samskip. The alleged infringements in question
concern a collusion between the two undertakings in the markets for maritime
shipping, land transport, freight forwarding and related services, mainly in
the period from 2008 – 2013.

According to a joint statement from June 9^th in 2021, Eimskip
approached the ICA with a request to enter formal talks with the ICA on a
possible settlement that would conclude the investigation as regards Eimskip.
Article 17. f. of the Icelandic Competition law Act permits ICA to finish all
investigations with a settlement, regardless of which stage the investigation
is in. ICA agreed to enter settlement talks.

On June 16^th in 2021 ICA and Eimskip signed a settlement
which includes Eimskip admitting to serious violations of competition law, a
payment of ISK 1.500.000.000 fine in addition to committing to taking actions
to prevent possible future violations.

Serious violations acknowledged

According to the settlement Eimskip admits to having committed serious
violations of Article 10 of the Icelandic Competition Law and Article 53 of the
EEA agreement. Eimskip acknowledges the following violations in the
investigation period which began after a meeting between Eimskip and Samskip on
June 6^th in 2008.

·
Collusion
with Samskip in the latter part of 2008 regarding changes in sailing systems
and limiting in transportation capacity in maritime shipping to and from
Iceland.

·
Collusion
with Samskip in allocating larger customers in maritime shipping and land
transport markets. This collusion was less in scope in the year 2013.

·
Collusion
with Samskip regarding fees and discounts for transportation services and
exchanging important information regarding prices and business matters. This
collusion was less in scope in the year 2013.

·
Collusion
with Samskip in land transport regarding transportation routes in Iceland and
dividing the market in connection with certain transportation routes.

·
Collusion
with Samskip on maritime shipping between Iceland and other European countries
as well as other actions aimed at restricting competition in transportation services.

·
Collusion
with Samskip on maritime shipping between Iceland and North America when an exemption
from Article 10 of the Icelandic Competition Law was not in force.

Eimskip also admits to collusion with Samskip before the meeting between
the two undertakings on June 6^th 2008. However, that collusion was
of a smaller scope than the one that started after the June meeting.

In addition, Eimskip acknowledges violation of Article 19 of the
Icelandic Competition Law by not giving necessary or accurate information or
neglecting to hand over data for the sake of ICA’s investigation.

Actions to prevent repetition of violations

A part of the settlement is Eimskip’s binding commitment to taking
actions to prevent future violations and strengthen competition. That includes
active internal control and education as well as making sure that key employees
and directors are aware of the importance that competitors in oligopolistic markets
are independent of each other and the strict ban under competition law of any
communication with competitors or possible competitors that are capable of
restricting competition.

Eimskip also commits to reviewing all contracts the company has with other
companies in the transportation sector. Furthermore, Eimskip is obliged to end
all business relations with Samskip and other transportation companies that
Samskip has business relations with. This is not applicable if Eimskip can
prove to ICA that the nature of the relationship will not have disruptive
effects on competition between Eimskip and Samskip.

Eimskip pays fine

According to the settlement Eimskip has agreed to pay a fine of ISK 1.500.000.000 as a result of the
aforementioned violations. The fine will be paid to the Icelandic state
treasury. In determining the fine, due account is taken of the company’s will
to step forward and admitting to serious violations in addition to committing
to measures that prevent future violations and strengthen competition.
According to Icelandic competition law such initiatives can lead to lower
fines.

Samskip is still under investigation

By signing the settlement agreement ICA has ended its investigation on
Eimskip. However, the alleged violations of Samskip remain under investigation.

Background information

ICA´s investigation began with a
dawn raid on 10 September 2013. A further dawn raid was conducted in June 2014.
The investigation has since been conducted continuously and without delays as regards
the ICA. The scope of the investigation is without precedent for the ICA. The
case of Eimskip and Samskip has been a top priority at the ICA from the
beginning and both parties have had an opportunity to give their comments to
ICA´s preliminary assessment, explained in two statements of objections. The
former statement was introduced to the companies in June 2018 and the latter in
December 2019. The parties´objections and comments were available to the ICA by
the end of August 2020. Both parties denied any violation of Article 10 of the Icelandic Competition law Act and Article
53 of the EEA agreement.

As a consequence of signing the settlement agreement, Eimskip’s former
objections as regards alleged violations have no bearing in the conclusion of the
case.

The signing of a settlement
agreement has a binding effect for the company concerned, according to article 17. f. of the Icelandic Competition law
Act.