Swatch and Citizen face Italian scrutiny over pricing practices

Swatch groupAG

09/12/2025 18:14

MILAN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The Italian competition authority said on Tuesday it had opened two investigations into Swiss watchmaker Swatch UHR.S and Japan's Citizen Watch 7762.T.

The probes involve an alleged infringement of European rules on the fixing of retail prices displayed online by the groups' authorised distributors.

The two companies may be limiting price competition among their retailers through a vertical agreement, by imposing retail prices on their distributors and adopting "retaliatory commercial measures" against those that fail to comply, the  antitrust authority said in a statement.

The agency's officials carried out inspections at the Italian offices of Swatch and Citizen on December 3.

Swatch and Citizen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Gavin Jones)

 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))