Imposing sanctions on individuals for competition law violations is common in a number of jusridictions worldwide but I had never heard of individual sanctions being imposed in merger cases.
Yet, I just read that the Bundeskartellamt had imposed a €90,000 fine on businessman Clemens Tönnies for the incomplete notification of his company’s acquisition of the slaughtering company Tommel. Mr. Tönnies, who is also the president of football club Schalke 04, apparently failed to disclose some of its controlling stakes. The fine comes more than a year after the Bundeskartellamt blocked the merger.
This case is a positive development as individual sanctions are probably more effective than corporate sanctions in ensuring compliance with the law.
John
Clemens Tönnies is the self-declared "sausage baron" of Germany, having acquired an empire of slaughterhouses and sausage manufacturers. He is also the CEO of football club Schalke 04. He has repeatedly had issues with the law.
In the present case, his "disguise" of owning the zur Mühlen-Gruppe seems particularly bizarre: his controlling stake is mentioned even in his Wikipedia entry...
Posted by: Hans Zenger | January 17, 2013 at 11:10 AM
Damien, I believe that the personal investment vehicles of several affluent Americans have been fined by the FTC for failures to file Hart Scott Rodino notifications. I recall this happening to Bill Gates's personal investment vehicle a few years ago.
Posted by: Gil Ohana | January 17, 2013 at 03:34 PM
Hi, Gil. Thanks for the info. I was not aware of that.
Posted by: Damien Geradin | January 18, 2013 at 09:33 AM