SEC Filing: Tecumseh - Timeframe in refrigeration compressors cartel limited
( March 19, 2009, 09:23 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: Tecumseh, one of the companies involved in the refrigeration compressors cartel investigation, has announced that according to its internal investigation the timeframe for the cartel as well as the product range may be relatively limited in scope.Extract: As we announced in mid-February, Tecumseh is one of several companies involved in investigations into possible anti-competitive practices in the compressor industry being conducted by the antitrust authorities of the United States, Brazil and European Commission. The first and most important point I want to emphasize is that on February 12, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) granted Tecumseh conditional amnesty under the Antitrust Division’s Corporate Leniency Policy. Under the terms of this agreement with the DOJ, the Company will not be subject to criminal prosecution with respect to the investigation, so long as the Company continues to comply with the Corporate Leniency Policy. This requires, among other things, the Company’s continued full cooperation in the investigation. We expect to cooperate throughout the investigation and to secure final amnesty, which would exempt us from the considerable fines and penalties that can flow from such matters. We have secured similar amnesty arrangements in Brazil and the European Union. The other significant benefit we can obtain as a result of our conditional amnesty relates to liability in civil litigation, which primarily occur in the U.S. By statute, if we cooperate in a satisfactory manner with private claimants, we can avoid the joint and several liability and treble damages that can be available in such matters. This should have the effect of even further reducing our total exposure. And although I understand that many of you would like a solid estimate of what the total exposure will be, it is not possible to do so. What I can tell you is that the civil exposure is driven by a number of factors such as: What products are involved? What factors other than potentially anti-competitive behavior drove pricing, for example material costs? What is the time frame involved? I only have information from our internal investigation, which tends to indicate a potentially limited timeframe and focus on a subset of our products, the smaller compressors of the type manufactured in our Brazilian facilities. That is all I can share with you at this time. We will update you further when we are able....
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