Latest news with #Anti-MonopolyLaw
Asahi Shimbun
23-07-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
FTC acts on Visa over suspected fee abuse to sway credit card firms
The Japan Fair Trade Commission in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward has issued its first administrative action involving the credit card industry following a probe of Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd.'s Japanese subsidiary in July 2024. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) The Fair Trade Commission has obliged a Visa group company to adhere to its corrective action plan over suspicions that it effectively forced credit card companies to use the group's credit authorization system. Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd.'s Singapore headquarters submitted its voluntary plan following the FTC's investigation in accordance with the 'commitment procedure' based on the Anti-Monopoly Law, commission officials announced July 22. It was the FTC's first administrative action against the credit card industry. The commission approved the company's plan. Visa Worldwide will be required to report to the FTC on how the plan is implemented for five years. Visa is the largest international credit card network. Visa Worldwide, based in Singapore, operates the group's business in Asia, including Japan. Visa, which does not issue credit cards on its own, provides systems necessary for credit card transactions. It receives license fees from credit card companies that issue cards to consumers as well as from those that process payments made to retailers, restaurants and other businesses. The FTC investigation focused on Visa Worldwide's actions regarding the group's credit authorization system. When consumers pay with their credit card, credit card companies that manage affiliated outlets use this system for a fee to check the spending limit or possible fraudulent use with cardholders' credit card companies. According to the FTC, when Visa Worldwide changed its terms in November 2021 it rendered credit card companies that manage affiliated outlets ineligible for a discount in a type of commission charged for payments in certain industries unless they use Visa's credit authorization system. After the company announced the change in February 2018, the FTC said almost all credit card companies that had used a rival credit authorization system switched to Visa's system. The watchdog also shared that Visa received about 10 billion yen ($68 million) annually in fees charged to these companies for using its credit authorization system. The FTC conducted an onsite investigation of Visa's Japanese subsidiary last July on suspicion that the updated terms restricted free transactions of credit card companies and excluded companies that provide a rival credit authorization system. It concluded that Visa Worldwide's action constituted a suspected violation of the Anti-Monopoly Law that prohibits unfair trade practices such as 'trading on restrictive terms.' According to the Japan Consumer Credit Association, the country made about 116 trillion yen in payments via credit cards in 2024. A survey by the private research company Ipsos found that the Visa brand accounted for about 50 percent of that amount.
Asahi Shimbun
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Asahi Shimbun
FTC curbs Harley-Davidson Japan's coercive dealer policy
The Fair Trade Commission will issue a cease-and-desist order to and fine U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson's Japanese subsidiary about 200 million yen ($1.4 million) for setting excessive sales quotas on dealers, sources said. The FTC recognized that the company had violated the Anti-Monopoly Law by mandating the unfair sales quotas, which forced dealers to buy motorcycles with their own funds to retain contract dealerships. Harley-Davidson Japan KK is headquartered in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. According to sources, since at least January 2023, the company has imposed strict sales quotas on dozens of dealers under contract without sufficient prior discussions or negotiations. The company allegedly implied that failure to meet the quotas would result in the non-renewal of contracts. Dealers, placed in a weak position, were effectively forced to purchase the motorcycles themselves. They temporarily registered the bikes under the names of the dealer, its president, or staff, and counted these as sales. After the dealers purchased the vehicles, the vehicles were considered 'registered but unused.' The dealers often had no choice but to sell them at discounted prices. 2 BMW EXECUTIVES JOINED HARLEY A similar case occurred at the Japanese subsidiary of German automaker BMW, which was punished by the FTC in 2021 for imposing excessive quotas on dealers between 2015 and 2019. According to sources, individuals involved with BMW at that time were later appointed as president and executive at Harley-Davidson Japan in 2020. It is believed that the practice of forcing dealers to buy vehicles out-of-pocket began at Harley under their leadership. The two top officials reportedly resigned after the FTC's on-site inspection in July 2024. According to Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd., Harley-Davidson Japan's sales for the fiscal year ending December 2023 rose by 24 percent year-over-year to 28 billion yen. However, sales for the year ending December 2024 declined by 21 percent to 22 billion yen. Data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association shows that Harley held the top share of newly registered imported small motorcycles in the last fiscal year, with 30.6 percent, representing 8,000 units.
Asahi Shimbun
30-04-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
FTC investigates NPB over press pass confiscated from Fuji TV
Japan's fair trade watchdog is investigating the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization over its confiscation of Fuji Television Network Inc.'s press pass during the Japan Series, a possible antitrust law violation, sources said. NPB revoked the pass on grounds that Fuji TV aired a digest of Major League Baseball's World Series at the same time when the first Japan Series championship game was broadcast live on Oct. 26. The organization, which operates Japan's two professional baseball leagues and holds the season-ending Japan Series, said Fuji TV 'seriously damaged the relations of trust.' The Fair Trade Commission believes that NPB's action not only temporarily deprived Fuji TV of its reporting opportunities but also could lead to restrictions on TV networks' content selection and programming, the sources said. The FTC suspects the action constitutes an 'unfair trade practice' prohibited under the Anti-Monopoly Law, the sources said. The competition watchdog is expected to decide on whether to issue administrative guidance to NPB after the investigation, the sources said. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Central League won the Japan Series over the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of the Pacific League in six games from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3. Terrestrial TV networks, including Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc. (TBS), TV Asahi Corp. and Fuji TV, aired different games. Last year, Fuji TV also broadcast the World Series, which was held around the same time. The World Series drew much attention in Japan because Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were playing for the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers. In the Japan Series, a press pass was issued for each game. NPB did not issue press passes to Fuji TV for all remaining Japan Series games as well as for postseason games featuring the Japanese national team. NPB notified the 12 professional baseball teams that Fuji TV's pass was forfeited. At one time, the organization tried to transfer the network's broadcasting right for the third Japan Series game to TBS, the sources said. The 12 teams propose TV networks that cover the Japan Series to NPB, which manages its broadcasting rights. The stations recommended by the two Japan Series teams gain the rights. The FTC believes that NPB confiscated Fuji TV's press pass as a sanction for doing business with MLB, its competitor, the sources said. The commission suspects the action constitutes an Anti-Monopoly Law violation by unjustly interfering with Fuji TV's transaction with MLB, the sources said. FTC investigators believe that barring Fuji TV from covering the Japan Series, a key programming event in baseball, could deter TV networks from doing business with MLB and other entities, the sources said.
South China Morning Post
27-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hutchison ports deal: China regulator warns parties not to circumvent probe
Mainland China's market regulator has warned CK Hutchison Holdings and other parties involved in the controversial sale of the Hong Kong conglomerate's overseas ports not to circumvent an ongoing antitrust probe into the deal, with some parts of the transaction reportedly set to be split up. Advertisement The warning from a spokesman for the State Administration for Market Regulation on Sunday was in response to a media question over a recent report that suggested the wealthy Italian Aponte family was looking to carve out two Panama Canal ports from the US$23 billion deal. 'We are highly concerned about the relevant transaction and will review it in accordance with the law,' the spokesman said. 'The parties to the transaction shall not circumvent the review in any way and shall not implement the concentration [of business operators] before approval, otherwise they will bear the legal responsibility.' According to Article 20 of the mainland's Anti-Monopoly Law, 'concentration' refers to the merger of business operators, acquiring control over another by acquiring their equity or assets, or an operator acquiring control or influence over others with a contract or other means.
South China Morning Post
19-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Luxury Tokyo hotels face watchdog warning over data-sharing that may have inflated prices
Japan 's competition regulator is poised to issue warnings to 15 of Tokyo's top hotels for sharing pricing data in a way that authorities say may have unfairly distorted the capital's luxury accommodation market and disadvantaged consumers. Advertisement An investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission determined that representatives of the hotels held meetings every month to share information on their operations, including room occupancy rates, average room rates and future pricing plans, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. The JFTC concluded that the executives' discussions may have influenced nightly rates, though it stopped short of declaring the hotels had formed a cartel to inflate profits. Still, it determined that sharing such pricing information amounted to an unreasonable restraint of trade under the Anti-Monopoly Law and said it would issue warnings to the operators against forming a cartel. Among the properties named were some of Japan's most iconic hospitality brands, including the Imperial Hotel, New Otani, Keio Plaza, Hotel Okura Tokyo, the Palace Hotel, Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide and Fujita Kanko. 01:43 How Japan built a 3D-printed railway station overnight How Japan built a 3D-printed railway station overnight In a statement issued to This Week in Asia, the Imperial Hotel said it had yet to receive formal notification from the JFTC but was 'taking the matter very seriously'.
