240In those circumstances, SDK's complaint alleging breach of its rights of defence must be rejected. At point 110 of the statement of objections, the Commission stated that it proposed to ‘set fines at a level sufficient to ensure deterrence’. SDK was plainly aware of the wording of Article 15(2) of Regulation No 17 and of its high worldwide turnover. Furthermore, SDK could infer from Commission Decision 1999/60/EC of 21 October 1998 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC Treaty (Case No IV/35.691/E-4: — Pre-Insulated Pipe Cartel) (OJ 1999 L 24, p. 1, ‘the pre-insulated pipes decision’), in which a multiplier of precisely 2.5 had been applied to Asea Brown Boveri, that it was not precluded that the Commission would also apply to it a multiplier of that order. There was therefore nothing to prevent SDK from referring, during the administrative procedure, to its size and its financial resources or from expressing its views on the deterrent effect of the penalty that the Commission would take against it.
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