European Commission Exempts Mitsui O.S.K. Lines from Penalty
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
The DG Competition of European Commission (EC) announced that several companies including MOL breached European competition law with respect to car carrier services.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and other shipping companies have been investigated by the EC due to the suspicion of competition law violation. MOL has fully cooperated with the EC during the investigation.
Though the EC announced that they found the violation of European competition law and imposed fines, MOL and its subsidiary companies were exempted from all penalty including the fine because EC granted MOL an immunity.
"MOL received full immunity for revealing the existence of the cartel, thereby avoiding a fine of ca. €203 million," said a communication from EC.
MOL offers its sincere apologies to its valued customers and to the society for their concerns this may have caused.
"It is MOL's principle to do its business in full compliance with the laws and MOL has been compliant with corporate ethics and social norms. We are taking the EC's announcement very seriously. We are making our best efforts to prevent any recurrence of such issues, to further enhance MOL's compliance structure, and to regain public confidence," said a company press release.