{"id":6957,"date":"2025-11-04T17:22:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T16:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/?p=6957"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:20:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:20:51","slug":"bvger-bestaetigt-weko-sanktion-im-automobilleasing-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/news-insights\/bvger-bestaetigt-weko-sanktion-im-automobilleasing-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Administrative Court confirms COMCO sanction in automotive leasing case"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"6957\" class=\"elementor elementor-6957\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5e192929 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"94417\" data-id=\"5e192929\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-328c9e8\" data-eae-slider=\"53682\" data-id=\"328c9e8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1457845 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1457845\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"825\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251027-Bild-LinkedIn-Beitrag-re-BVGer-Urteil-i.S.-Ford-Credit-EN.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-6955\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251027-Bild-LinkedIn-Beitrag-re-BVGer-Urteil-i.S.-Ford-Credit-EN.jpg 825w, https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251027-Bild-LinkedIn-Beitrag-re-BVGer-Urteil-i.S.-Ford-Credit-EN-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251027-Bild-LinkedIn-Beitrag-re-BVGer-Urteil-i.S.-Ford-Credit-EN-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251027-Bild-LinkedIn-Beitrag-re-BVGer-Urteil-i.S.-Ford-Credit-EN-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a76e28a\" data-eae-slider=\"45134\" data-id=\"a76e28a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-99081b4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"99081b4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Federal Administrative Court confirms COMCO sanction in automotive leasing case<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f29e2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"5f29e2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-685ec73 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"about\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-tags\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-terms\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list-item\">Competition<\/span>, <span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list-item\">News<\/span>\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-d50ae70 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-calendar\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>04.11.2025<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-ec6c601 elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-user-circle\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-custom\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMario Strebel, Fabian Koch\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d17332b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4d17332b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<style>.elementor-element-4d17332b{display:none !important}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e6fdab6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e6fdab6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<style>.elementor-element-e6fdab6{display:none !important}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0bcb7c3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0bcb7c3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>In its judgment of 6 October 2025, the Federal Administrative Court (FAC) dismissed the appeal filed by Ford Credit (Switzerland) GmbH against the COMCO decision of May 2021. The court thereby confirmed a fine of nearly CHF 7.8 million for price coordination in the automotive leasing sector. The judgment addresses key issues regarding information exchange and the calculation of sanctions.<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p><p>Based on a leniency application, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weko.admin.ch\/weko\/en\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COMCO<\/a> opened proceedings in 2013 against nine leasing companies affiliated with different car manufacturers. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weko.admin.ch\/weko\/en\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COMCO<\/a>, starting in 2006 and continuing for several years, these companies regularly exchanged sensitive data\u2014such as interest rates, residual values, promotions, and fees\u2014at so-called captive meetings, via e-mail, or on a shared team space. While eight companies settled the case through amicable agreements, Ford Credit lodged an appeal.<\/p><p><strong>Reasoning<\/strong><\/p><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bvger.ch\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FAC<\/a> confirmed that the information exchange qualified as a concerted practice under Article 4(1) CartA and as a price-fixing agreement by object under Article 5(3)(a) CartA. It considered decisive that the exchange was capable of eliminating market uncertainty and creating artificial transparency. Although, according to the court, information exchanges typically\u2014also in the case at hand\u2014require a complex assessment based on the specific facts, actual evidence of parallel conduct or market effects is not required. The presumptions under Articles 5(3) and (4) CartA are, in principle, abstract endangerment provisions already based on a general harm theory. Finally, the court also rejected the complaints regarding the calculation of the sanction.<\/p><p><strong>Assessment<\/strong><\/p><p>The judgment confirms the strict practice and broad interpretation of the presumption provisions by the Swiss competition authorities and courts\u2014while at the same time raising new questions about their scope. It illustrates an increasing divergence from EU case law, under which object restrictions must be interpreted narrowly and assessed on a case-by-case basis in light of the overall economic and legal context (see, in addition to the Generics judgment, C-307\/18, cited by the FAC, in particular the ECJ\u2019s <em>Super Bock<\/em> decision, C-211\/22).<\/p><p>In our view, treating Articles 5(3) and (4) CartA as abstract endangerment offences unduly shortens the concept of the harm theory. Consistent with EU competition law, the presumption provisions should be interpreted narrowly, and it should be examined in each specific case whether the underlying harm theory has in fact materialised. Whether this would have changed the outcome of the present case cannot be assessed.<\/p><p>Companies active in Switzerland should carefully scrutinise information exchanges, industry meetings, and data-sharing arrangements and ensure they are reviewed from a competition law perspective.<\/p><p>The decision can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/bvger.weblaw.ch\/pdf\/B-4024-2021_2025-10-06_050b1757-3883-4df6-b6e1-a78b5d3e7d8d.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> (in German only).\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c0b3fb0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c0b3fb0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-no-translation=\"\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>CORE Attorneys is a boutique law firm in Switzerland, focusing on <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/expertise\/wettbewerbsrecht\/\">competition\/antitrust law<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/expertise\/regulierung\/\">regulatory<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/expertise\/vertriebsrecht\/\">distribution law<\/a> matters. Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/news-insights\/\">News &amp; Insights<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/core-attorneys\">LinkedIn<\/a> for regular updates on all our focus areas.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mit Urteil vom 6. Oktober 2025 hat das Bundesverwaltungsgericht (BVGer) die Beschwerde der Ford Credit (Switzerland) GmbH gegen die WEKO-Verf\u00fcgung vom Mai 2021 abgewiesen. Es best\u00e4tigt damit eine Busse von knapp CHF 7,8 Mio. wegen Preisabreden im Bereich Automobilleasing. Das&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"BVGer best\u00e4tigt WEKO-Sanktion im Automobilleasing-Fall","_seopress_titles_desc":"BVGer best\u00e4tigt WEKO-Sanktion im Automobilleasing-Fall","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[665,83,664,500,227,97,56,666,142,165,33,39,667,110],"class_list":["post-6957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-competition","category-neuigkeiten","tag-automobilleasing","tag-bundesverwaltungsgericht","tag-bussgeld","tag-bvger","tag-compliance","tag-informationsaustausch","tag-kartellrecht","tag-leasing","tag-preisabrede","tag-sanktion","tag-selbstanzeige","tag-weko","tag-wettbewerb","tag-wettbewerbskommission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6957"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7112,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957\/revisions\/7112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core-attorneys.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}