International Cartels and Leniency | Competition/Antitrust | Services

International Cartels and Leniency

Competition/Antitrust

International Cartels and Leniency

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As businesses continue to expand their operations internationally, they are increasingly at risk of being the subject of investigations by competition authorities around the world. Competition authorities in jurisdictions such as Japan, the U.S., the EU, Canada, Australia, and Korea have been active enforcers for many decades now. More recently, enforcement by competition authorities in countries such as China, India, Singapore, Brazil and South Africa, among others, has intensified. AMT has significant and proven experience of collaborating seamlessly with local attorneys, including in formulating the best possible legal defense strategy, conducting interviews with related parties as well as in reviewing and managing documentary evidence through the use of the latest forensic tools and digital technology. In many cases, we have also coordinated leniency applications across a number of jurisdictions. With respect to international cartels, in particular, our experience includes the following: ・Vitamins case (advised Japanese listed companies on the procedures in the U.S., the EU, Japan, Canada and South Korea); ・Petrochemicals cartel case (advised Japanese listed companies on the procedures in the U.S. and the EU); ・Heavy electric cartel case (advised Japanese listed companies on the procedures in the EU and several European countries); ・Graphite Electrode case (advised foreign companies on the procedures in Japan and South Korea); ・Marine Hose case (advised European companies on the procedures in Japan); ・International airfreight forwarders cartel case (advised Japanese listed companies on the procedures in Japan, the U.S., the EU and Singapore); ・Power cables case (advised Japanese listed companies on the procedures in Japan, the EU, Brazil, etc.); ・Capacitors case (Japan, China, Taiwan, the U.S., Canada, the EU and South Korea, etc.); and ・Auto Parts case (advised Japanese listed companies etc. on the procedures in Japan, the U.S., Canada, the EU, Brazil, Mexico, India, South Africa, China, Korea, etc.)

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PROFESSIONALS

ShigeyoshiEzaki

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

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Shigeyoshi Ezaki is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and has a general corporate practice, which includes advising and assisting Japanese and foreign clients with respect to antimonopoly law, corporate law, trade regulations and intellectual property law. In addition to his professional experience at the firm, Mr. Ezaki worked for the New York firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges as a foreign attorney (1998 to 1999).

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YusukeNakano

Tokyo

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Tokyo

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Yusuke Nakano is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, with broad experience in the areas of antitrust, business dispute resolution, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property. In the antitrust area, he has particularly broad experience in cartel investigation and merger control, including international ones. Further, Mr. Nakano has assisted many Japanese companies and individuals involved in antitrust cases in foreign jurisdictions, in close cooperation with co-counsel in those jurisdictions. He has also represented various companies in administrative, civil and criminal litigation, mass and complex litigation, innovative mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and licensing arrangements. In addition to his professional experience at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Mr. Nakano worked for the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, as a foreign intern (2001 to 2002).

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TakeshiIshida

Tokyo

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Tokyo

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Takeshi Ishida is a Japanese qualified lawyer, and a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune. He specializes in competition law, including defense against agency investigations into cartel, bid-rigging and unfair unilateral conduct, antitrust litigations and merger control, with special expertise in issues involving information technologies and intellectual property rights, based on his practical insight gained from first-hand experiences of handling leading cases in the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). Prior to joining the firm, he was appointed as a deputy director at investigation bureau in the JFTC for 3 years. During his tenure, he was a lead case-handler in the Intellectual Property Task Force at the investigation bureau, dealing with investigations and litigations against IT major companies over cutting-edge cases. Moreover, he also acted as a chief investigator responsible for investigating on a wide range of infringement cases such as cartel, bid-rigging and unfair unilateral conduct, conducting dawn raids over more than a dozen cases, and also representing the JFTC before the Tokyo district court and administrative hearings. Before serving for the Japanese agency, he practiced with Blakemore & Mitsuki as a senior associate, advising mainly on competition law issues to clients, such as a patent pool company and major IT companies, and dealing with merger control and litigations. Besides his competition law expertise, his practices encompass the full range of general corporate issues, with considerable experience in litigations and white crime matters, and he also has a deep knowledge of information and communication technology sector.

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YoshiharuUsuki

Tokyo

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Tokyo

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Yoshiharu Usuki is a partner at Anderson Mōri & Tomotsune with broad experience in the area of antitrust/competition law. In the competition area, he is particularly experienced in Japan Fair Trade Commission cartel investigations and other foreign competition authority cartel investigations, bid rigging and other serious alleged violations. Also he is broadly experienced in anti-trust and competition matters relating to dominance regulations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution agreements and license agreements. In addition to his professional experience at Anderson Mōri & Tomotsune, he worked for the London law firm of Fieldfisher LLP, as a foreign lawyer (2014 to 2015).

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AtsushiYamada

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

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Atsushi Yamada is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune focusing on competition/antitrust law. His practice covers all aspects of competition/antitrust law including assisting clients in investigations by competition authorities (cartels/dominance/unfair trade practices), representation in courts/tribunals challenging decisions made by competition authorities, follow-on civil litigation, and merger filings. He also provides advice relating to structuring new businesses and compliance programs. His clients include both multinational and Japanese companies in various industries, such as information technology, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, construction, transportation, financial institutions and trading houses. Prior to joining Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, he has worked at the Tokyo office of a US law firm and a local Japanese firm after serving as a judge at the Tokyo District Court as well as other courts. With such background, he has extensive experience in litigation and general corporate matters. He is also well experienced in providing labor and employment law advice to both Japanese and non-Japanese companies.

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VassiliMoussis

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

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Vassili Moussis is an English qualified lawyer who is registered to practise law in Japan. His practice focuses on EU and international competition law with a particular emphasis on inbound and outbound merger control and international cartel matters. He is also advising on a wide range of issues including energy related issues, distribution arrangements, intellectual property and other commercial matters, which often have an international dimension. Vassili is recognized in the Hall of Fame of competition lawyers in Japan by Legal 500 Asia-Pacific and as a Leading Individual for antitrust and competition law in Japan by Chambers Asia-Pacific for over 10 years now. Clients have praised him for his expertise in international competition cases as well as "his technical knowledge, commercial awareness, effectiveness and client service" as well as for being "a great bridge between Japan and the rest of the world", Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2025 and Chambers, Asia-Pacific 2020 and 2021.

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KiyokoYagami

Tokyo

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Tokyo

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Kiyoko Yagami mainly handles anti-monopoly and competition-related matters, joint venture, and direct investment in Asia and emerging countries. She also has extensive experiences in cross-border contract negotiation and dispute resolution.

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JunichiKondo

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

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Junichi Kondo is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and is engaged principally in the fields of general corporate matters with an emphasis on M&A, joint venture and other corporate transactions including M&A-related financing. His scope of experience also includes healthcare matters including pharmaceutical regulations and software licensing.

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EtsukoHara

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

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Etsuko Hara is a partner at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune with broad experience in the area of antitrust, including international cartel cases, multi-jurisdictional merger filings as well as distribution arrangements, franchising, and strategic alliances. She handles various inbound and outbound cross border transactions, especially in the form of direct investment, joint ventures, and distribution, license and franchise agreements.

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KoichiSaito

Tokyo

Partner

Tokyo

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Koichi Saito is a partner in employee/executive incentive practice group. He is a leading lawyer in this field in Japan. He advises on all aspects of share/cash-based incentive plans. He advises on selection of types of awards, design of the incentive plan, due diligence on legal and tax issues in Japan as well as other jurisdictions, implementation of the incentive plan, and operation of the plan. He advises Japanese listed and private companies on issues relating to incentive plans generally, in M&A situations and on IPO. He advises global corporations on extending their incentive plans into Japan. He also specializes in business and human rights and other aspects of ESG law. He advises Japanese and multinational corporations, governments and international organizations on preparing policies and their implementation, including risk assessment, human rights due diligence, mitigation of human rights risks, and engagement with stakeholders. He has served as Operating Committee member of Business and Human Rights Lawyers Network Japan since 2019, and he is also a member of Advisory and Mediation Panel of Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER).

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YoshinoriAoyagi

Tokyo

Nagoya

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Tokyo

Nagoya

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Mr. Yoshinori Aoyagi is a partner working primarily in the fields of M&A including cross border transactions. He has also been advising on various corporate law related issues including shareholders meetings and corporate governance. He has also been involved with antitrust issues including merger control and has also been advising on healthcare and life science related issues.

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