Law360, New York ( October 1, 2015, 10:27 AM EDT) -- The "next big thing" in international price-fixing cartels began in March 2014 when major competition agencies including the United States, China and the European Commission launched an investigation of the massive capacitors industry.[1] Multiple class action treble damage suits quickly followed public disclosure of the investigation.[2] These civil suits have now been consolidated in federal court in the Northern District of California before Judge James Donato. The San Francisco field office is running the Antitrust Division's grand jury investigation, which had been relatively quiet until Sept. 2, 2015 when the U.S. Department of Justice announced the first criminal charges in the investigation against NEC Tokin Corp. of Japan. NEC Tokin Corp. will plead guilty and pay a $13.8 million criminal fine for conspiring with competitors between 2002 and 2013 to fix prices for electrolytic capacitors sold to customers in the United States and elsewhere.[3] With one criminal charge filed, more will follow....