Antitrust Laws in USA, UK, and Singapore
Antitrust laws are designed to promote fair competition by preventing monopolies and other anti-competitive business practices. These laws have their origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a number of large corporations, known as "trusts," had gained significant control over various industries and were engaging in practices that stifled competition and raised prices for consumers.
In the United States, the main federal antitrust law is the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which prohibits monopolies and other anti-competitive practices. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main agency responsible for enforcing this law.
In the United Kingdom, the Competition Act of 1998 and the Enterprise Act of 2002 are the main antitrust laws. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for enforcing these laws.
In Singapore, the Competition Act of 2004 is the main antitrust law. The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) is responsible for enforcing this law.
Some famous antitrust cases are:
United States:
- United States v. Standard Oil Co. (1911), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Standard Oil Trust was an illegal monopoly and ordered it to be broken up.
- United States v. AT&T (1982), in which the court ordered the breakup of the AT&T telephone monopoly.
- United States v. American Tobacco Co. (1911), in which the Supreme Court ordered the breakup of the American Tobacco Trust for monopolizing the tobacco industry.
- United States v. Alcoa (1945), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) had engaged in monopolistic practices and ordered it to divest some of its assets.
- United States v. International Business Machines Corp. (1952-1956), in which the government sued IBM for monopolizing the computer industry. The case was eventually settled out of court with IBM agreeing to certain restrictions on its business practices.
- United States v. DuPont (1949), in which the court ordered DuPont to divest itself of certain chemical companies it had acquired, finding that the acquisitions were anti-competitive.
United Kingdom:
- British Airways and Virgin Atlantic (2007) where the Competition Commission found that the two airlines had colluded on prices for long-haul flights to and from London.
- British Sugar (2000) where the Competition Commission found that British Sugar had abused its dominant position in the UK sugar beet market.
Singapore:
- The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) fines GrabTaxi and Uber for illegal merger in 2018.
- The CCS fines Keppel DC REIT Management and M1 for anti-competitive conduct in 2020.
