EU regulators say smart card chipmakers may have been in cartel

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German chipmaker Infineon Technologies and several of its peers could be penalized after EU regulators said the companies may have taken part in a cartel to keep prices high.

The European Commission said in a statement it had sent a statement of objections setting out its concerns to the companies involved, without identifying the firms, which face fines up to 10 percent of their global revenue if found guilty.

The EU competition authority said it sent the charge sheet to the companies after talks to settle the case, which would have included a 10 percent cut in fines, broke down.

Infineon confirmed that it had received the statement of objections. Smart card chips are used in mobile phone SIM cards, bank cards, pay TVs, passports and identity cards.

NXP Semiconductors, which previously said it was under investigation, said on Monday it had not received the statement of objections.

The case started in January 2009 with raids on companies in several EU countries.

Atmel Corp previously said it was cooperating with the investigation, while Renesas Technology - a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric - and France-based STMicroelectronics have confirmed the regulatory raids.

(Additional reporting by Harro Ten Wolde in Frankfurt; Editing by Rex Merrifield and David Holmes)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-regulators-smart-cart-chipmakers-may-cartel-095027355.html

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