Swatch and Citizen face price-fixing probe in Italy
The Italian competition authority has announced the opening of two separate investigations targeting prominent watch manufacturers, Swatch from Switzerland and Citizen Watch from Japan. The probes were initiated following allegations of an infringement of European rules concerning the fixing of online retail prices by the companies' authorized distributors.
The investigations center on claims that the watchmakers may be limiting price competition among their retailers through vertical agreements. According to a statement released by the antitrust authority, Swatch and Citizen are accused of imposing specific retail prices on their distributors and adopting "retaliatory commercial measures" against those retailers who failed to adhere to these imposed prices.
As part of the investigation process, officials from the competition agency conducted inspections at the Italian offices of both Swatch and Citizen on December 3. Neither Swatch nor Citizen Watch provided an immediate response when contacted for comment regarding the allegations.
