EU Fines Computer Chip Makers for Price-Fixing

The European Union fined a group of computer chip makers €331.3 million for price-fixing, the first use of a new procedure that allows settlement of a cartel case in Europe. The European competition commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, said Wednesday that, because of the new procedure, he expected to handle some cases in less than six months from the time that a cartel is discovered or reported.