On November 18, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 4-0 to adopt a new policy statement outlining the commission’s plans to expand its criminal referral program in an effort to prevent and deter corporate crime...more
12/3/2021
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Policy Statement
To stay ahead of the feds, companies need to monitor their own data for possible compliance problems. Congress may soon give companies better visibility into their shareholder bases, including derivatives positions.
In this...more
10/8/2021
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Biden Administration ,
Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Mergers ,
Section 220 Request ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In a September 22, 2021, memorandum to staff, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan formally laid out her “Vision and Priorities for the FTC,” reaffirming her calls for broad antitrust enforcement organized around...more
Over the course of his first six months in office, President Joe Biden has signaled a clear commitment to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. On July 9, 2021, he took his most specific and comprehensive action on the subject...more
As anticipated, on June 15, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed Lina Khan’s appointment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unexpectedly, within hours of her confirmation, President Joe Biden named her FTC chair. Ms. Khan...more
A mostly forgotten statute barring competitors from having representatives on each other’s boards could be used by regulators if pressure builds for antitrust enforcement in the tech industries....more
President Biden has signaled a pro-enforcement approach to antitrust policy by naming Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu as a White House adviser and nominating Lina Khan, who also teaches at Columbia Law, to be...more
On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (the DOJ) issued its new Merger Remedies Manual (the Manual), which provides the framework the DOJ will utilize going forward to implement relief in mergers...more
On August 31, 2020, the Delaware Chancery Court issued an opinion in litigation between Anthem and Cigna related to the contract in their terminated merger. In its sprawling 306-page opinion, the court detailed a “corporate...more
9/19/2020
/ Anthem Insurance ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Breach of Contract ,
CIGNA ,
Condition Precedent ,
Contract Termination ,
Contract Terms ,
Credibility ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Efforts Clauses ,
Termination Rights
Recent enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) demonstrate the agencies’ continued close scrutiny of merging parties’ compliance with divestiture orders....more
8/24/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Fines ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Settlement Agreements
Following their January publication of Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines (draft guidelines) for public comment, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, the agencies) issued final...more
The global spread of the novel coronavirus has disrupted everyday life all over the world and imposed significant difficulties on the business community. Antitrust merger reviews — and the authorities who conduct those...more
4/3/2020
/ Asia ,
China ,
Competition Authorities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Notice Requirements ,
Office Closures ,
Relief Measures ,
Saudi Arabia ,
South America ,
State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The question is no longer whether the volatility created by the COVID-19 pandemic will deepen the difficulties businesses and other institutions face in the coming months, but by how much and in what ways. In the past few...more
3/21/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Court Closures ,
Debt-Equity ,
Energy Projects ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
IRS ,
Liquidity ,
Mergers ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Stock Repurchases
As anticipated, on January 10, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the Agencies) released Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines (Draft Guidelines), marking the first update...more
1/22/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Public Comment ,
Sensitive Business Information ,
Supply Chain ,
Transparency ,
Vertical Mergers
In September, Georgetown University Law Center hosted its 13th Annual Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium and Fordham University School of Law hosted its 46th Annual International Antitrust Law and Policy Conference. Each...more
10/15/2019
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Ascertainable Class ,
Big Tech ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Digital Currency ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRCP 23 ,
Innovative Technology ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Public Policy ,
Unbundling
On April 12, the Federal Trade Commission held a hearing to debate the extent to which the FTC should use retrospective reviews to strengthen merger enforcement. This was the latest in the series of hearings on Competition...more
4/26/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Hearings ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Commissioners ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Political Parties
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Competition has established a task force dedicated to monitoring competition in U.S. technology markets and taking enforcement actions as warranted. While the remit of the task...more
4/23/2019
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Competition ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Technology Sector
On February 25, 2019, in FTC v. Shire ViroPharma, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cannot plead its way into federal court via Section 13(b) of the FTC...more
3/2/2019
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Administrative Remedies ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Disgorgement ,
Dismissals ,
Federal Pleading Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Generic Drugs ,
Illegal Profits ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Remedies ,
Restitution ,
Unfair Competition
On September 25, 2018, Georgetown University Law Center hosted the 12th Annual Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium. The event, which was co-sponsored by Skadden, featured keynote addresses from leaders of competition...more
10/9/2018
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Innovation ,
Mergers ,
Symposium ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
Richard A. Powers has recently joined the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division as the acting deputy assistant attorney general (DAAG) for criminal enforcement and is expected to take on the role permanently. This is...more
5/21/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Antitrust Division ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Leniency Programs ,
No-Poaching ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Privilege Waivers
On April 4, 2018, Skadden hosted a webinar titled “Year Two of Trump Antitrust Merger Enforcement: What to Expect in 2018.” The Skadden panelists were antitrust/competition global head Steven C. Sunshine and...more
4/20/2018
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
AT&T ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
Time Warner ,
Trump Administration