OFT makes its first moves as majors meet deadline.

The Office of Fair Trading took its CD investigation directly into record company offices last week ahead of the deadline for the arrival of their initial submissions.

BMG's Fulham headquarters were visited by officers from the OFT over several days last week, though at press time last Friday none of the other six companies being probed by the Government body had yet received a visit. An OFT spokesman says not every company under the spotlight will automatically be visited; visits will depend on what information is needed for the investigation.

BMG, along with EMI, Pinnacle, Sony, Universal, Virgin and Warner, were due by last Friday to submit information requested for the OFT inquiry into whether they have breached the Competition Act 1998 in the ways they have responded to imports of CDs from continental Europe. The OFT, headed by director-general John Vickers, has not ruled out widening its investigation to other companies. Though it has not offered any further explanation of the scope of its investigation, it is understood to be looking at the specific issue of parallel imports rather than CD pricing.

One major record company executive expresses his frustration at the expense and time already taken up putting together the initial submissions for ...