On 22 December 2020, the CAT dismissed FP McCann Limited’s (FPM) appeal against the penalty imposed on FPM by the CMA for participating in an illegal cartel relating to precast concrete  drainage products (see UK Competition Newsletter, October 2019). The CMA had imposed the maximum penalty: £25.45 million, representing 10% of FPM’s turnover. FPM argued that the CMA’s Penalty Guidance, used to assess the level of the fine, is ultra vires and therefore void because Parliament intended the maximum penalty to  be  reserved for the most serious offences of the relevant kind and the Penalty Guidance does not follow this approach. FPM also argued that the penalty was inappropriate as the CMA had incorrectly applied the Penalty Guidance. The CAT rejected FPM’s arguments, holding that Parliament did not  intend to limit the CMA’s  discretion  to  impose the maximum penalty to only the most serious cases and the penalty was appropriate, the  Penalty Guidance having been  applied  properly at each step.