Commission defends leniency for foreign price-fixers

The Commerce Commission has defended its leniency policy for price-fixing cartels after politicians questioned whether it was paying enough attention to smaller complaints.

The commission offers immunity from prosecution for the first person in a cartel who contacts it with information and co-operates fully with the investigation.

Labour MP Lianne Dalziel suggested the policy was "perhaps driving a lack of work in other areas", with the commission's focus on international cartels.

"Is it perhaps [time] to draw back from the leniency policy as far as international cartels go and get on with business at home?"

The big cases might be worth substantial amounts of money but did not mean much when distributed to individuals, Ms Dalziel said.

She raised the issue of the commission's probe into credit card companies, in which eight banks were fined for failing to properly disclose currency conversion fees.

"For me the benefit from the credit case was, I think, about $18 ... it was tiny compared to somebody who's lost their livelihood through the collapse of the Greenacres [ironing franchise] deal."

She said it was smaller cases, such as people who invested in blue chip finance companies, which were not getting attention from the commission.

Chairman Mark Berry said it was hard for the commission not to pursue any serious matter of price-fixing brought to it.

"These big cases do result in major outcomes when you look at it in the entirety of the economy and there might be small communities who feel that their issues have priority and should be better treated but we have limited resources," he told Parliament's commerce select committee.

National MP Katrina Shanks asked why international cases were not referred back to their country of origin.

Commissioner Peter Taylor said the commission investigated international cartels in so far as they affected New Zealand. "What we are actually addressing and targeting is the harm done to New Zealand which is not actually going to be addressed back in the other jurisdiction."

The commission may join the growing list of Government organisations cutting staff.

It announced yesterday that it was considering a restructuring that would involve some jobs being disestablished and others being created.

Chairman Mark Berry told the commerce select committee the commission was considering the restructuring to achieve a "better division of Labour between our two main work streams [enforcement and regulation]".

- NZPA