Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Commission definition

What does Commission mean? In legal practice, a commission is a payment, usually percentage‑based, made to an agent, broker or introducer for securing business or facilitating a transaction. Under UK bribery law, the Bribery Act 2010 (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) does not define commission, but criminalises offering, promising, giving, requesting or receiving a financial or other advantage to induce or reward improper performance. A commission may constitute such an advantage depending on intent, knowledge and context; not every commission is a bribe. Transparent, proportionate, contractual commissions for genuine services are generally lawful, whereas concealed or disproportionate payments, particularly to public...

Case T-470/11: Total and Elf v Commission – EU General Court on cartel fines, joint liability and default interest after Arkema fine reduction; Commission demand letters annulled in part

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert

Practice notes

CASE HUB ARCHIVED – this archived case hub sets out the position as at the judgment date of 29 April 2015; it is not maintained. See: timeline and related/relevant cases

Case facts Outline

An appeal was lodged before the General Court seeking to set aside commission correspondence that demanded from the applicants sums mirroring fines imposed by the Commission in its decision of 31 May 2006 (concerning Total and Elf’s alleged involvement in the ‘Acrylic glass’ cartel), and arising in the framework of steps later taken by the Commission to implement General Court judgments which lowered the penalty levied on the applicants’ subsidiaries while rejecting the applicants’ action. On 29 April 2015, the General Court quashed the disputed letters, but solely to the extent that the Commission requires Elf to pay default interest totalling €31.31m (for which Total is jointly and severally responsible up to €19.19m). The matter centres on the settlement of fines in cartel cases, and the knock-on effects for any such payments owed by parent companies where appeals before the courts bring about reductions in the amount of the fine for subsidiaries that are jointly and severally liable...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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