17 bathroom fittings companies fined total of €622m for price fixing cartel

17 bathroom fittings companies, including some from outside the European Union, have been fined €622m by the European Commission for taking part in a cartel in which they agreed to fix the prices for bathroom fittings. The cartel had affected six countries covering 240 million people and for 12 years. Some of the companies’ fines have been reduced for whistleblowing and co-operation with the Commission. Incredibly, some companies also benefited from leniency, because they successfully pleaded that they would be unable to continue trading if the fines were too high given the current economic situation.