The year 2023 is proving to be a milestone year for antitrust enforcement. Less so for novel cases and investigations and more so for the generational changes being proposed by the enforcement authorities for merger...more
7/28/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Information Sharing ,
Merger Controls ,
Popular
Proposing a radically different conception of government enforcement merger guidelines, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), on July 19, 2023, jointly issued draft merger guidelines...more
On December 14, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is seeking public comment “on potential updates and changes to the Green Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims” (the Notice). The...more
1/6/2023
/ Advertising ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Claims ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Green Guides ,
Green Marketing ,
Greenwashing ,
Marketing ,
Public Comment ,
Section 5 ,
Sustainability ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On December 14, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is seeking public comment “on potential updates and changes to the Green Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims” (the Notice). The...more
1/5/2023
/ Advertising ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Claims ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Green Guides ,
Green Marketing ,
Marketing ,
Product Labels ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Section 5
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed suit yesterday to block Lockheed Martin Corporation’s proposed $4.4 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc., announced back in December 2020. Aerojet, the last...more
1/26/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Goods or Services ,
Lockheed Martin ,
Prime Contractor ,
Suppliers ,
Vertical Mergers
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has increased the dollar jurisdictional thresholds necessary to trigger the reporting requirements in the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”); the...more
1/25/2022
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
New Guidance ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
On January 18, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) (together, the “Agencies”) jointly announced plans to “review,” “modernize” and “strengthen” horizontal merger...more
1/19/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Monopolization ,
Private Equity ,
Request For Information
Change is the only constant of late at the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). Newly confirmed Chair Lina Khan has wasted no time in using her three-Democrat majority to overhaul the Commission’s merger enforcement practices. ...more
In a recent blog post, the Acting Director of the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition announced the reversal of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) decades-long position regarding the treatment of debt repayment...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy” (the “Order”). The Order responds to what the President characterizes as a “failed experiment” in lax antitrust...more
7/20/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform
In an extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, action, parties to a proposed deal that had been under investigation for about nine months closed the transaction almost immediately upon expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”)...more
For the first time since 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has decreased the dollar jurisdictional thresholds necessary to trigger the reporting requirements in the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of...more
What happened? The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) announced that, on January 5, 2021, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Surgical Care Affiliates LLC and its related entity...more
1/15/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
No-Poaching ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing
On September 21, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), with the concurrence of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and an Advance Notice of...more
10/2/2020
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
ETFs ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Investors ,
NPRM ,
Regulatory Agenda
What happened?
On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a revised Merger Remedies Manual, which sets forth the Division’s framework for implementing remedies to resolve antitrust concerns in merger...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced its annual revisions to the dollar jurisdictional thresholds in the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”); the revised thresholds will...more
1/29/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Popular ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
On November 8, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) proposed changes to the premerger notification rules (“Rules”) relating to how U.S. and foreign...more
11/21/2019
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Threshold Requirements
What happened?
On November 6, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 5-0 to uphold Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell’s initial decision that Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH’s (“Otto Bock”) acquisition of rival...more
Over the past year, State Attorneys General have stepped into what they describe as a void of antitrust enforcement at the federal level. AGs have commenced investigations and brought antitrust actions across industry...more
7/24/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Banks ,
Digital Platforms ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Interest Rates ,
Libor ,
Marriott ,
No-Poaching ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sprint ,
State Attorneys General ,
Sutter Health ,
T-Mobile ,
Telecommunications ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The FTC recently reminded market participants to take steps to avoid violating the per se prohibition on interlocking directorates under Section 8 of the Clayton Act. The FTC referred to its previous post on Section 8, which...more
Two Japanese corporations each agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) charges of violating the premerger notification and waiting period requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Act....more
6/12/2019
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Canon ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Notification Requirements ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Toshiba ,
Waiting Periods
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced its annual revisions to the dollar jurisdictional thresholds in the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”); the revised thresholds will...more
James L. Dolan, owner of New York’s Knicks and Rangers and Executive Chairman of Madison Square Garden Company (“MSG”), has agreed to pay $609,810 in civil penalties to settle Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) allegations that...more
12/12/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Failure-to-File ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Voting Securities
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or the “Commission”) convened a hearing on December 6, 2018 to better understand the possible anticompetitive implications of institutional investors holding non-controlling amounts of...more