Call me on Tuesday
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29 October 1929 (often called Black Tuesday) was the day which saw some of the most dramatic falls in stock prices in the US Wall Street Crash. If you may have been infringing EU competition law, Tuesday is also the day of the week on which you should be prepared and ready for an unannounced 'dawn raid' by the EU's competition law officials.
We have analysed a random sample of 15 (relatively recent) EU cartel investigations to identify the day of the week on which the dawn raid that kick starts these sorts of investigations took place. The results are detailed below:
|
Cartel investigation |
Date of first dawn raid |
Day of week |
| Mountings for windows and doors | 3 July 2007 | Tuesday |
| Freight forwarding | 10 October 2007 | Wednesday |
| Cathode ray tubes | 8 November 2007 | Thursday |
| Smart card chips | 21 October 2008 | Tuesday |
| Refrigeration compressors | 17 February 2009 | Tuesday |
| North sea shrimps | 24 March 2009 | Tuesday |
| Automotive harnesses | 24 February 2010 | Wednesday |
| Euro interest rate derivatives | 18 October 2011 | Tuesday |
| Industrial bearings | 8 November 2011 | Tuesday |
| Car thermal systems | 22 May 2012 | Tuesday |
| Plastic pipes | 26 June 2012 | Tuesday |
| Car carriers (maritime) | 6 September 2012 | Thursday |
| Car battery recycling | 26 September 2012 | Wednesday |
| Sugar | 23 April 2013 | Tuesday |
| Cargo train transport services | 18 June 2013 | Tuesday |
Two-thirds of the raids took place on a Tuesday with the remainder on a Wednesday or Thursday. Monday and Friday do not figure (month-wise, nor do August or December/January). If you have key executives trained to manage a competition dawn raid, they should be readier on Tuesdays than on other days. Needless to say, we are always willing to help on Tuesdays (and Wednesdays and Thursdays…).
If you would like to discuss these issues, please do not hesitate to contact me.