The European Commission is carrying out surprise inspections at the premises of financial services companies in two Member States. The Commission is concerned that the inspected companies may have violated EU antitrust rules prohibiting restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 53 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA)).
Financial derivatives are the products that are the subject of particular attention during the inspections. Commission officials are accompanied by their counterparts from the competent national competition authorities of the Member States where the inspections take place.
Unannounced investigations are a preliminary step in the investigation of alleged anti-competitive practices. It is important to note that the mere fact that the Commission carries out these inspections does not mean that companies are automatically guilty of anti-competitive behaviour or that the outcome of the investigation is predetermined.
There is no specific time limit for completing an investigation into anticompetitive conduct. The length of the investigation depends on several factors, including the complexity of each case, the extent to which companies cooperate with the Commission and how they exercise their rights of defence.