End of the road for Norris - a cautionary tale for salacious executives

Ian Norris, former CEO of Morgan Crucible, has failed in his latest attempt to avoid extradition to the US and faces spending the rest of his retirement at President Obama's pleasure. In the latest instalment of his four-year legal battle, the High Court this week dismissed Mr Norris' appeal, ruling he should face trial in the US on the charge of obstructing the course of justice. According to antitrust partner Bernardine Adkins, this appears to be the end of the road for Mr Norris.

Warrants for Mr Norris' arrest were issued in the US and UK in 2004, following allegations of conspiring to fix prices in the carbon components for trains market. He also faced charges of obstructing the course of justice during the subsequent investigation into cartel activity.

In a landmark ruling in March last year, the House of Lords blocked Mr Norris' extradition on the grounds that price-fixing was not a crime in the UK at the time of the alleged misconduct. However, it was later ruled that he should be extradited on the additional charges of obstructing the course of justice. The High Court has now rejected the argument that the obstruction of justice charge was "subsidiary" to the price-fixing charges. Mr Norris has been refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords.

Bernardine says, "Any action he may bring before the European Court of Human Rights may, judging by the court's dismissal of that particular argument, be unlikely to prove successful. Unless such an action is brought, Mr Norris will be extradited to the US within 28 days. The US antitrust authorities will ensure they make up for the missed opportunity to flex their muscles in relation to the substantive price-fixing charges by pinning him down with a gross breach of procedure. This begs the question: will we see the EU and UK adopt similar tactics on this side of the pond?"

This comes at a time when the newly appointed head of the US Department of Justice's antitrust division, Christine Varney, has announced that the Obama administration is to ramp up its enforcement of antitrust laws. In a speech given to the US Chamber of Commerce, Ms Varney identified five industries that will be subject to renewed enforcement: banking, healthcare, energy, telecommunications and transportation. She also relayed plans for increased cooperation with antitrust authorities outside of the US in relation to the investigation and prosecution of international cartels.

Bernardine adds, "Statements from the EU, UK and US authorities have made it clear that they are intent on not backing down in the face of difficult economic conditions. With the risk of being subject to ever greater scrutiny, businesses would be wise to dust off their competition compliance programmes and sharpen their wits to how the authorities expect them to conduct themselves in the face of an investigation."