In October, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously voted to finalize changes to the premerger notification form and rules implementing the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. On November 12, that rulemaking was published in the Federal Register, making the effective date for the new rules February 10, 2025. For more information on the significant changes to the HSR rules, see our previous Client Alert.
In light of the recent election, the implementation of the HSR rules may be postponed by a regulatory freeze. Regulatory freezes are commonly imposed by incoming administrations and allow the new administration to reconsider rules announced in the final weeks of the previous administration. Given that President-elect Trump imposed a regulatory freeze at the start of his first administration in 2017, and President Biden also imposed one in 2021, it is likely that it will happen again in January. Since the HSR rules have been finalized, a regulatory freeze would postpone the effective date for 60 days while the incoming Trump administration decides how to proceed.
