With the May 16, 2022, confirmation of Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, the Federal Trade Commission finally has a 3–2 Democratic majority and can move forward with Chair Lina Khan’s ambitious agenda.
The Commission majority...more
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently suffered significant losses in two criminal trials involving alleged criminal wage-fixing and related “no-poach” agreements by and between competitors. These were...more
During the recent Spring 2022 Enforcers Summit, Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division chief, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, announced that interlocking directorates will face increased...more
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced an update to its leniency policy for criminal antitrust enforcement on April 4, 2022, along with an accompanying set of updated FAQs. The updates effectively...more
Federal agencies continue to roll out new initiatives targeting anticompetitive conduct in the wake of President Biden’s July 2021 Executive Order, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” The latest action comes from...more
With consumer prices increasing across the economy, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on February 17, 2022, a new joint initiative designed to identify and prosecute...more
Non-compete agreements between employers and their employees traditionally are governed by state law. But that did not stop the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) from recently filing a statement of...more
On January 24, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its adjusted reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR Act) in the Federal Register. The FTC revises...more
1/26/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Wilson v. Wilson. The case involved the last will and testament (“Will”) of decedent Terrel Wilson, Sr. (“Terrel Sr.”), which purported to create a trust....more
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently announced that two top executives of a talent and media agency resigned their positions on the board of directors for a competing business. They did so after...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (Order), a wide-ranging edict intended to promote competition in numerous sectors of the economy through 72 specific...more
At a time when antitrust enforcers, federal legislators and courts are heavily focused on technology platforms and digital advertisers like Google and Facebook, on June 11, 2021, the Second Circuit vacated an administrative...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force has struck again.
Launched in November 2019, PCSF is a multi-agency task force led by DOJ’s Antitrust Division and designed to combat antitrust crimes...more
While campaigning in 2020, President Biden broadcast his concern about increased market concentration in American agribusiness. To address perceived “monopolistic markets,” he promised to “protect small and medium-sized...more
Since the 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission has used its authority under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to secure consumer redress for frauds and scams perpetrated on consumers. On April 22, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court, in...more
Federal antitrust enforcers have long succeeded at unwinding consummated mergers. By contrast, private antitrust plaintiffs have not successfully forced companies to break up a completed acquisition. Until now.
On February...more
Just before leaving office, former President Trump signed the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (CHIRA) on January 13, 2021. Among other things, CHIRA amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to repeal the federal antitrust...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a new temporary suspension of grants of early termination for Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) waiting periods, effective February 4, 2021, while the FTC and the Department of Justice...more
Former President Trump signed into law the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2019 on December 23, 2020. The law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who provide information to a superior, to a...more
On February 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its adjusted reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act) in the Federal Register. The revised thresholds,...more
2/4/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
While the bill discussed in this alert was passed by Congress on December 22, 2020, it was not enacted by the end of its Congressional session. It is possible this bill has been signed, but Congress has not yet been notified....more
The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA), which provides additional benefits to the Leniency Program within the Department of Justice (DOJ), was reauthorized by President Trump on October 1, 2020....more
On September 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division (the Division) published the Merger Remedies Manual (the Manual), issuing new guidelines for remedying anticompetitive mergers. Specifically, the...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) committed to issuing expedited “Business Review Letters” (BRLs) to provide requested guidance concerning permissible types of...more
In a year of many firsts, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Competition published new Vertical Merger Guidelines on June 30, 2020 (Guidelines) — the first...more