The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division have filed a Statement of Interest (SOI) supporting a lawsuit brought by a coalition of Republican states alleging that three large...more
As newly-appointed Republican leaders explain the antitrust enforcement priorities of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ), one thing is clear: the Trump administration is...more
5/16/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Trump Administration
In a speech at Notre Dame Law School on April 28, 2025, Gail Slater, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, provided a detailed summary of her approach to antitrust...more
As the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term draw to a close, the new administration’s antitrust enforcement agenda is coming into focus. In recent statements, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson...more
4/25/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
Under the leadership of recently-appointed Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Gail Slater, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ” or “the Division”), has announced the launch of the Anticompetitive Regulations Task...more
On October 3, 2024 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ or the Antitrust Division) participated in the G7 Competition Authorities and Policymakers Summit, which focused on...more
On December 18, 2023 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) (“the Agencies”) released the 2023 Merger Guidelines (the Merger Guidelines). The substance of the new guidelines does not stray...more
On September 5, 2023 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) (the Agencies) hosted the first of three planned workshops intended to “facilitate public dialogue” on the 2023 FTC and DOJ Draft Merger...more
It has been two years since President Biden signed a far-reaching, industry-spanning Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. The Executive Order outlined a “whole-of-government” approach to...more
9/1/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Vertical Mergers
Transactions and other investments in the health care industry by private equity firms are a hot enforcement topic at both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) recently concluded a series of public virtual listening forums to hear testimony from individuals who have “experienced firsthand the effects of mergers and...more
Responding to a significant increase in recent merger and acquisition activity and concern about the effects of “merger driven consolidation across markets,” leadership at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”...more
On 18 January 2022 the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a press conference to announce a joint effort to modernize the horizontal and vertical federal merger guidelines “to better detect and...more
On 15 September 2021 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held its third open meeting under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan. As expected, the Commissioners voted along party lines to rescind the Vertical Merger Guidelines...more
On 9 July 2021 President Biden signed a far-reaching executive order intended to promote competition in the American economy. The order targets perceived corporate consolidation and anticompetitive activity in the labor,...more
On 22 December 2020, on a divided vote, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or the Commission) issued a Commentary on Vertical Merger Enforcement (FTC Commentary) to provide “greater transparency to the public regarding its...more
Dutch competition authority imposes fine on company for deleted chat messages during a dawn raid -
The Dutch competition authority (“ACM“) recently confirmed that the obligation to cooperate fully with an inspection/during...more
3/23/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
BSA/AML ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Monopolization ,
Threshold Requirements
On 11 March 2020 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) held a workshop to discuss comments on the draft vertical merger guidelines (the guidelines) published by DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on 10 January 2020....more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have extended the deadline for public comments on the draft vertical merger guidelines (the Guidelines), which were published jointly by the agencies on 10...more
2/5/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
On Friday, 10 January 2020 the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) announced the publication of draft vertical merger guidelines that describe how the agencies currently...more
1/14/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
On 12 December 2019, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced that it has entered into a proposed consent decree with the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) settling charges that...more
12/16/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Code of Conduct ,
Competition ,
Consent Decrees ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethical Standards ,
Ethics ,
Mobile Devices ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trade Associations
Read the latest news on antitrust, competition and economic regulation (ACER) in this Autumn's edition of our quarterly ACER newsletter.
Algorithms in the spotlight of antitrust authorities -
Joint study by the...more
12/10/2019
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Belgian Competition Authority ,
Belgium ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Marketplace ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Luxembourg ,
Merger Controls ,
Netherlands ,
Popular ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Statutory Violations
On 18 November 2019 the American Bar Association's Antitrust Law Section hosted its annual Antitrust Fall Forum. This year, the Fall Forum focused its discussions on a range of issues that could arise from the agencies'...more
12/3/2019
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Big Data ,
Consent Decrees ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act
On 26 February 2019 AT&T won its appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when the district court's decision denying the government's attempt to block AT&T from acquiring Time Warner Inc. was...more
A resounding complaint from merging parties heard time and time again is the negative impact on operations resulting from protracted merger reviews that consume significant resources. The duration of the merger review process...more