Wallenius Wilhelmsen pays $18m fine and closes Australian car carrier investigation

Norwegian car carrier operator Wallenius Wilhelmsen has announced that the Federal Court of Australia has issued a fine of A$24m ($18.2m) to the company in a criminal cartel case initiated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2015.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has accepted the ruling, which marks the closure of the investigation.

The company entered a guilty plea in the Federal Court to criminal cartel conduct in Australia in June last year, something that has seen a host of other car carrier operators fixed with similar fines in Australia and elsewhere in recent years.

“When the investigations into the car carrying industry began in 2015, Wallenius Wilhelmsen immediately took action to strengthen the organisation, policies, processes, and training to ensure full compliance with competition law. Such efforts will continue to ensure the highest ethical standards are met,” the company said in a release.