COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
Your reference:
TIBCR L/M 33/93
Our reference:
HKB 121/10
20 December 1993
BY FAX
Mr P D W Bourton
Trade and Industry Department
HUB 121/10
छ
18 FEB 1994
Government Secretariat
Lower Albert Road
Hong Kong
Dear Mr Bourton,
LAST PAPER
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SW1A 2AH
Telephone: 071-
270-2653
US ANTITRUST NOTIFICATION
1.
2.
Thank you for your letter of 20 December.
You asked for a copy of the Department of Trade and Industry's standard advice to companies that have been asked to co-operate voluntarily with US antitrust investigations. Their advice would normally be as follows:
"You may be aware that the British Government is sensitive to the actions of US regulatory authorities which seek to impose US law on UK [or dependent territories] companies' operations located outside US jurisdiction. Any request for your company to provide information located in the UK [Hong Kong] on a voluntary basis should, however, pose no jurisdictional problems for us.
We have been notified of this investigation in accordance with the 1986 OECD Recommendation on the Notification of Restrictive Business Practices Investigations. The Recommendation provides for arrangements for consultation and notification of antitrust actions by one Member State of the OECD involving the interests of another Member State."
3.
In this particular case the US Department of Justice is asking for voluntary co-operation. We have no way of knowing whether VTECH will wish to refuse such co-operation. Nor is there any indication at this stage that the Department of Justice would seek to enforce disclosure in the event that the VTECH is unforthcoming.
Bourton.Dec20
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