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Key antitrust findings - May 2024

This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. David Higbee (Global Head of Antitrust) and Dominic Long (Global Deputy Head of Antitrust) are our editors this month....more

2024 Increases to HSR Thresholds, Filing Fees, HSR Penalties and Interlocking Directorate Thresholds

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced updated filing thresholds and related filing fees under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”). The new HSR Act thresholds will...more

Laying a New Foundation – New FTC and DOJ Merger Guidelines Seek to Advance Biden Administration’s Aggressive Enforcement Vision

In the nearly three years since President Biden took office, it has become clear that his Administration has sought to develop an “inflection point” for antitrust enforcement. Speeches by new leadership at both the U.S....more

New Seventh Circuit Decision Brings Increased Risk for No-Hire and Non-Solicitation Clauses

On August 25, 2023, in Deslandes v. McDonald’s, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court’s dismissal of an antitrust case that challenged no-hire and non-solicitation clauses in McDonald’s...more

Field of Dreams: FTC and DOJ Seek to Build a New Playing Field for Challenging Mergers

Proposed FTC and DOJ Merger Guidelines Formalize Biden Administration’s Aggressive Vision for Merger Enforcement – Top Ten Takeaways - When losing, some players seek to change the rules. Others seek to change the playing...more

Proposed Overhaul of HSR Form Will Dramatically Increase Burden on Filers

Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “Antitrust Agencies”) announced proposed changes to the premerger notification process that mark the most...more

UPDATE: FTC’s Updated Filing Fees, Increased HSR Thresholds and Increased Interlocking Directorate Thresholds for 2023

The new Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”) thresholds will go into effect on February 27, 2023 and will apply to all transactions closing on or after that date. As previewed in...more

Significant US HSR Filing Fee Changes Under The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 also known as The Omnibus Funding Bill (the “Bill”). The Bill includes the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act which provides...more

The FTC Abandons (The Rule of) Reason

On November 10, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement (the “Policy Statement”) radically expanding the FTC’s interpretation of prohibited “unfair methods of competition” under Section 5 of the FTC...more

DOJ’s First Large Scale Crackdown on Potentially Unlawful Interlocking Directorates Led to 7 Board Resignations Across 5 Tech...

On Wednesday, October 19, 2022, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced that seven directors resigned from their board positions because of DOJ’s concerns that holding the positions violated the Clayton...more

FTC Increases HSR Thresholds in 2022

On January 21, 2022, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the thresholds for the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”). The official publication is...more

Back to the Future—FTC Reinstates and Broadens Prior Approval Policy for Anticompetitive Mergers

On Monday, October 25, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted along party lines to approve (3-2 with Commissioner Phillips and Commissioner Wilson dissenting) a new Prior Approval Policy Statement (Prior Approval...more

Navigating Systemic Risk: Protecting Financial Institutions form Avoidable Losses

COVID-19 has acted as an accelerator, bringing into play scenarios which were previously only contingencies and making contingencies of (and requiring planning for) situations which were previously barely imaginable. The debt...more

Five Key Aspects of the Long-Awaited Revised Draft US Vertical Merger Guidelines

On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released joint draft Vertical Merger Guidelines (“Guidelines”) for public comment. This much anticipated...more

Companies With Effective Antitrust Compliance Programs Could Get Relief From Criminal Prosecution Under New DOJ Policy

The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (Division) finally will consider the existence of effective antitrust compliance programs at the charging stage of criminal antitrust investigations, opening up the...more

US NOPEC Developments: Update for National Oil Companies

On Thursday, 7th February, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives approved the No Producing and Exporting Cartels Act 2019 (NOPEC), potentially setting up a vote by the full House. NOPEC was followed by...more

United States Supreme Court Upholds Rejection of the Government’s Antitrust Challenge to American Express’s Merchant Contracts

On June 25, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision by Justice Thomas, held that provisions in American Express Company’s (“American Express”) and its operating subsidiary’s contracts with merchants that restricted...more

DOJ Loses First Vertical Merger Suit Brought in Decades as Federal Judge Approves AT&T’s Acquisition of Time Warner

On June 12, 2018, following a six-week-long bench trial, Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner does not violate the...more

Abuse of Dominance Concerning Online Platforms

Large online platforms such as Amazon, Facebook and Google have a strong presence in Europe. Although general competition law principles apply to them, cases concerning online platforms give rise to a lot of novel questions...more

Vertical Agreements in the Online Sales of Goods

The growth of e-commerce and the resulting increase in price transparency and price competition have a significant impact on companies’ distribution strategies and consumer behavior. While the emergence of e-commerce has the...more

Antitrust Enforcement Under the Trump Administration

Divining trends in antitrust enforcement in a given presidential administration can take some time. Many commentators didn’t notice material changes in antitrust enforcement in the Obama administration – at least in merger...more

What Role For Fairness in EU Competition Policy and Enforcement?

Is this perception well-founded? And does it represent a new policy trend towards ‘social justice’ objectives or simply a continuation of a policy driver that has underpinned EU competition enforcement for some time?...more

The FTC’s Challenge of Red Ventures–Bankrate: Antitrust Risks in Deals Backed by Private Equity Minority Shareholders

On November 3, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint challenging Red Ventures’ proposed acquisition of Bankrate. The FTC alleged that the deal likely would have lessened competition in the market for...more

DOJ’s Challenge of Parker-Clarcor: HSR Clearance Does Not Equal Safe From DOJ Challenge

On September 26, the DOJ challenged Parker-Hannifin’s $4.3-billion consummated acquisition of Clarcor, serving as a reminder that receiving HSR clearance does not immunize transactions from being challenged, even after...more

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