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EU fines Microsoft $730 mn for web browser non-choice

The European Commission on Wednesday fined US giant Microsoft 561 million euros ($ 730 million) for failing to provide clients with a choice of Internet browser, as it had promised to do.

The Commission said this was the first time it was sanctioning a company for the failure to satisfy a previous EU complaint, making this a 'very serious infringement.'

In 2009, the Commission required Microsoft to offer clients a choice of web browser through to 2014 after complaints it was restricting them to its own brand product.

'Legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy because they allow for rapid solutions to competition problems,' EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.

'Such decisions require strict compliance. A failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly,' he added.

However, an investigation found that for the roll-out of Windows 7 in the period May 2011 to July 2012, some 15 million clients had no web browser choice for that time.

Microsoft has acknowledged the failure, which it put down to technical problems.The EU has had a series of disputes with Microsoft, fining the company 899 million euros in 2008, subsequently reduced to 860 million euros, for failing to comply with an order to share product information with rivals so that their software could work with Windows.

Under EU law, a company found to have breached commitments made to resolve competition cases can face a fine of up to 10 per cent of annual sales. In 2012, Microsoft posted sales of just under $74 billion.

The single biggest EU anti-trust fine was against Intel at 1.06 billion euros in 2009.


EUROPEAN UNION FMS REACH PACT TO CAP BANKERS’ BONUS; UK REFUSES TO SIGN

The Finance Ministers of the European Union have reached a basic agreement to rein in bankers’ bonus, leaving Britain isolated as the only member-nation refusing to sign up.

The Ministers, who held a one-day meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, endorsed a deal struck last week between representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU council of ministers to cap bonuses to a banker’s annual basic salary and to double that amount if a majority of the bank’s shareholders approve.

However, they postponed a final decision to clear some ‘technical questions’ with the British government in the coming weeks so that the UK too can be taken on board, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after the meeting.

Further discussions are needed to decide whether the new regulations can take effect on 1 January 2014 and to what extent exceptions to the envisaged bonus cap can be allowed, he said.

The proposals to curb bankers’ bonuses are part of a new package of measures designed to prevent another financial crisis by strengthening the European banks and by reducing risks, according to Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU council of ministers.

‘These new rules will make sure that our banks can better withstand the crisis in the future,’ he told a news conference.

The proposals about bonuses are also about reducing risks.

‘The aim is to make sure that bankers are taking decisions in the interest of the long-term stability of banks and this is taken into account in the remuneration packages,’ Noonan said.
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