AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel supplier, yesterday voiced its disappointment at the US government for charging six of its executives and staff with price-fixing and said it would continue defending the firm against the allegations.
The indictment against AU Optronics is part of a broader anti-trust probe into LCD panel price fixing launched in December 2006 by the US Department of Justice.
AU Optronics is one of few companies under investigation that have refused to plead guilty, after six companies — including Taiwan’s Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) agreed to settle and were ordered to pay more than US$860 million in fines.
AU Optronics vice chairman Chen Hsuan-bin (陳炫彬), CEO Chen Lai-juh (陳來助) and board member Hui Hsiung (熊暉), along with other three employees, have been charged with price-fixing, according to a US Department of Justice statement released on Thursday.
“The facts of the case do not warrant such charges. We will actively defend the company,” AU Optronics spokesperson Hsiao Ya-wen (蕭雅文) said by telephone.
Stiff competition has caused steep price declines over the past years, which has benefited a large base of consumers, AU Optronics said in a statement released yesterday. The firm makes and sells LCD panels used in TVs and computers.
“The suit does not have immediate, or material impact on the company’s operation,” Hsiao said.
AU Optronics set aside NT$10 billion in the fourth quarter of last year to defend against anti-trust lawsuits in the US and Europe.
The anti-trust charges did not affect AU Optronics shares yesterday. The stock closed 3.05 percent higher at NT$30.40, beating the benchmark TAIEX, which advanced 1.64 percent.
A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted AU Optronics executives for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels sold worldwide during the period between Sept. 14, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2006, the justice department said in the statement.
Including this indictment, 17 executives have been charged to date in the department’s ongoing price-fixing investigation, it said.
If convicted, violators face a maximum of 10 years in prison, a US$1 million fine for individuals and US$100 million fine for corporations, the statement said.
The maximum fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine, it added.
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