Tokyo, 10 March, 2026 – Japan’s competition watchdog has revised the administrative fine imposed on advertising giant Dentsu Group in connection with a bid-rigging scandal linked to contracts for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) said Wednesday it had issued a decision to change the amount of the surcharge payment order originally imposed on the company under the country’s Antimonopoly Act.
The revision reduces the administrative penalty by an amount equivalent to half of a criminal fine previously ordered by a court.
Background to the case
The case concerns alleged bid-rigging over contracts for planning and running test events for the Tokyo Games. These contracts were issued by the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and covered work including planning test events for individual sports venues, running the test events themselves and operating competitions during the Games.
Following a criminal investigation, the JFTC filed a complaint on February 28, 2023 with Japan’s top prosecutor against Dentsu Group and five other companies. Six individuals working for those firms and one official from the organising committee were also referred for prosecution.
On January 30, 2025, the Tokyo District Court convicted Dentsu Group and imposed a criminal fine. That judgment became final on December 16, 2025.
Separately, the JFTC concluded that companies involved in bidding for the contracts had engaged in conduct that violated the Antimonopoly Act’s ban on unreasonable restraint of trade. On June 23, 2025 it issued both cease-and-desist orders and administrative surcharge payment orders to the companies involved.
Reason for the change
Under Japanese competition law, when a company receives both a criminal fine and an administrative surcharge for the same conduct, the fine must be adjusted. The JFTC therefore reduced the surcharge for Dentsu Group by an amount equal to half of the criminal fine imposed by the court.
The decision revising the surcharge amount took effect on March 11, 2026, the regulator said.
Source: https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/pressrelease/2026/mar/260311_daiichi.html
