See full article here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28...rust-probe.html

It will be interesting to watch this play out. Thanks for the post. There was a post last year complaining about a very similar situation here in the USA.

Now Steinway has issued a response:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76306&p=irol-news

There is not enough "there" in that article for me to understand the issues. But at a surface level, how is this different from any manufacturer, say, oh, Yamaha, from having a suggested retail price that is more than a mere suggestion.

col·lu·sive (k-lsv, -zv)
adj.
Acting in secret to achieve a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful goal.


col·lu·sive
[kuh-loo-siv] Show IPA

adjective
involving collusion; fraudulently contrived by agreement: a collusive agreement to increase prices.

The Swiss Franc has seen wild appreciation in recent years against the US Dollar and the Euro. This makes products sold in neighboring Germany and France and priced in Euros much cheaper in real terms than in Switzerland where the same products are priced in Francs. It wouldn't surprise me to find that Steinway or its Swiss dealers were looking to protect the local dealers from price competition across the border.

Wild appreciation ???

I was thoroughly thrashed converting Swiss Francs to Euros, Franks were very low.

What am I missing?

Also the pianos available in Switzerland were likely from Steinway Hamburg, so any USD/CHF fluctuation may be irrelevant. (Isn't that one of the reasons Steinway opened a European factory in the first place?)

This is related to an institutional purchase. In some cases and in my experience, the regulatory efforts employed to prevent fraud or corruption are frustratingly difficult to satisfy even with the best intentions and help from the regulating body.

Anti-trust sounds scary. I'll be interested to see what becomes public.

I will wait for more information before judging the situation, but either way, I bet any legal defense will be an untimely expense. It would be for anyone in our small industry.