As previously predicted, the new year and change of administration in the U.S. brought a series of notable developments in criminal antitrust enforcement. Recent actions indicate that the new antitrust leadership in the...more
4/29/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Cartels ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Monopolization ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage-Fixing ,
White Collar Crimes
The new year marks the transition from the Biden administration and its whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement, to the return of President Trump. To spearhead his administration’s antitrust enforcement efforts,...more
1/31/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Cartels ,
Collaboration ,
Competition ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Information Sharing ,
Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) ,
Popular ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Whistleblowers
On January 10, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published new, higher notification thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”). The HSR Act requires the FTC to adjust...more
1/16/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
Despite the summer doldrums, cartel enforcers around the world had several notable enforcement actions and, perhaps more importantly, signaled a busy fall and winter. In the United States, the Department of Justice’s...more
11/1/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Healthcare ,
Italy ,
Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Philippines ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Singapore ,
Wage-Fixing
Despite the summer doldrums, cartel enforcers around the world had several notable enforcement actions and, perhaps more importantly, signaled a busy fall and winter. In the United States, the Department of Justice’s...more
10/22/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Belgian Competition Authority ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Construction Project ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Healthcare ,
Hedge Funds ,
Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) ,
No-Poaching ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Philippines ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Sherman Act ,
Software ,
State Attorneys General ,
Wage-Fixing
On October 10, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 5-0 to adopt new Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) rules, which will substantially expand filing requirements for parties when the new rules go into effect. The...more
10/14/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Best Practices ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Fast Track Process ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Lead Supervisory Authority ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Suppliers
At the mid-year point, 2024 is shaping up to be an eventful year in cartel enforcement. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Antitrust Division (Division) enjoyed two significant victories and finally...more
7/19/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bid Rigging ,
Canada ,
Canadian Competition Act ,
Cartels ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
FBI ,
France ,
Healthcare ,
Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) ,
Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) ,
Monopolization ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Rental Property ,
UK
As anticipated, cartel enforcement is ramping up at the start of 2024 and investigations relating to artificial intelligence (AI) are taking center stage. Leadership of both the broader Department of Justice (DOJ) and the...more
4/4/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Preservation ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Pricing ,
Software ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
As part of its whole-of-government effort to enforce the antitrust laws, the Biden administration recently launched a new interagency Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing (Strike Force), which will be co-chaired by the...more
On January 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the “Division”) announced that both agencies are updating language in critical documents for civil and criminal...more
On December 18—nearly two years after announcing plans to revise the Merger Guidelines—the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (together, “the Agencies”) issued a final version of their new...more
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the “Agencies”) released for public comment draft Merger Guidelines that outline how the agencies evaluate proposed deals. The Agencies have...more
7/28/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreclosure ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Market Manipulation ,
Market-Sharing ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Vertical Mergers
In 2022, antitrust authorities around the world were pursuing more investigations, bringing new types of cases, and making policy changes to spark even more enforcement actions.
In the United States, the Department of...more
12/21/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Monopolization ,
No-Poaching ,
OECD ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage-Fixing
In the latest employment-related collaborations under President Biden, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) both recently announced new partnerships with the National...more
On June 3, 2022, Andrew Forman, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) publicly stated that the DOJ is considering “enhancing antitrust enforcement around a...more
6/22/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Care ,
Joe Biden ,
Monopolization ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Private Equity
Since the last edition of the QCC, there has been a series of dramatic developments in the criminal antitrust enforcement space in the U.S. from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (Division)....more
5/10/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Belgium ,
Bid Rigging ,
Buy-Side Trading ,
Canada ,
Canadian Competition Act ,
Construction Contracts ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Grand Juries ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Care ,
Leniency Programs ,
Monopolization ,
No-Poaching ,
OECD ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Reimbursements ,
Romania ,
Sherman Act ,
South Korea ,
Supply Chain ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage-Fixing
On April 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “Division”) announced noteworthy updates to its Corporate Leniency Program as well as its frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) that explain the Program,...more
In the latest sign of the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust enforcement agenda, on March 2, 2022, while speaking on a panel at the ABA White Collar Crime Conference in San Francisco, Deputy Assistant Attorney...more
Morrison & Foerster’s Automotive Task Force represents automotive industry clients in their most significant legal matters.
We have tapped our multidisciplinary Automotive Task Force to get their opinions on what is likely...more
2/23/2022
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Antitrust Division ,
Automotive Industry ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
The end of 2021 continued to be a busy time for antitrust enforcers in the U.S. and around the world. Perhaps most notably, in November the Senate confirmed Jonathan Kanter to lead the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust...more
1/26/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Bid Rigging ,
Bids ,
Cartels ,
Collusion ,
Construction Contracts ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mistrial ,
Ocean Transportation System ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sherman Act ,
Supply Chain ,
Trading Plans ,
Tyson Foods ,
Wage-Fixing
On January 24, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published new, higher notification thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”). The HSR Act requires the FTC to adjust the...more
On January 18, 2022, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) held a joint press conference to announce the launch of a broad‑ranging public inquiry aimed at...more
More than halfway through the year, 2021 has shaped up to be another busy time for antitrust enforcers. In July, the Biden administration confirmed that antitrust remains a top priority by issuing a sweeping Executive Order,...more
9/16/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
FBI ,
Joe Biden ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage-Fixing
On June 6, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021. Co-sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the bill would increase filing fees for certain large...more
A new year, a new administration in the United States, and new cartel enforcement leadership in the United Kingdom have begun. In the United States, first-of-their-kind criminal charges have been brought involving labor and...more
3/2/2021
/ ACPERA ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Bipartisan Agreement ,
Cartels ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015 ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Fraud ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
National Security ,
Online Gaming ,
Plea Agreements ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Retaliation ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
State Attorneys General ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)