By Lorraine Luk
TAIPEI--Taiwanese flat panel maker AU Optronics Corp. (2409.TW)
said Thursday the U.S. government has asked a federal court to
impose a US$1 billion fine on the company over a flat-panel
price-fixing case.
"We think the calculation of the fine is not appropriate as it
exaggerated the scale of our operations in the U.S. We will
continue to provide more accurate information to help the federal
court decide on the appropriate amount of fine," the company said
in a statement.
AU Optronics said in March that it will continue to defend
itself in a flat-panel price-fixing case in the U.S. and will
appeal a verdict by a U.S. court, which found the company, its U.S.
subsidiary and two of its senior executives guilty of price
fixing.
The world's fourth largest maker of liquid crystal displays by
revenue said earlier the guilty verdict was based on evidence which
was "twisted and incomplete." The company said Vice Chairman Chen
Hsuan-bin and Vice President Hsiung Hui were wrongly indicted
because they weren't authorized to discuss prices with competitors
and no pricing agreement was reached between them and other LCD
makers.
In 2006, federal prosecutors began investigating alleged
price-fixing in the global LCD market, coordinating with antitrust
regulators in Japan, Korea and Europe.
Write to Lorraine Luk at lorraine.luk@dowjones.com
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