Swatch and Citizen face Italian scrutiny over pricing practices

MILAN, ‌Dec 9 (Reuters) - The Italian ‍competition authority ‌said on Tuesday it had ⁠opened two ‌investigations into Swiss watchmaker Swatch and Japan's Citizen Watch.

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)