The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s annual Spring Meeting concluded on April 12. The annual Spring Meeting featured updates from federal, state and international antitrust enforcers and extensive discussion...more
4/15/2024
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
FDIC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Robinson-Patman Act ,
Settlement ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act
The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s annual Spring Meeting is underway in Washington, DC. The annual Spring Meeting features updates from federal, state and international antitrust enforcers and extensive...more
4/12/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Buyers ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Proposed Rules ,
Remedies ,
Section 8
Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. (Google) moved to dismiss a third successive complaint that alleged it tied the sales of Maps, Routes and Places application programming interface (API) services to one another. A basic tying...more
2/29/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Application Programming Interface (APIs) ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Google Maps ,
Licensing Rules ,
Monopolization ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Service Agreements ,
Terms of Service
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are updating their standard preservation notices and instructions for responding to all manner of discovery (e.g., second requests, voluntary access...more
On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced increased jurisdictional thresholds, increased filing fee thresholds and filing fee amounts for merger notifications made pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino...more
A three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned an executive’s bid-rigging antitrust conviction, holding that the district court erred in applying the per se standard to the executive’s...more
1/10/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Bid Rigging ,
Bids ,
Collaboration ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Competition ,
Convictions ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Per Se Rule ,
Price-Fixing ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act
Mergers and acquisitions will continue to face strong headwinds at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) under new proposed Merger Guidelines released on July 19, 2023.
The Proposed...more
7/25/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
The Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division have released their revised Merger Guidelines. Which industries will be most affected? What should companies be doing now to avoid regulatory...more
The American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section held its annual Spring Meeting in Washington, DC, on March 29–31, 2023. The Spring Meeting sessions featured updates from federal, state, and international antitrust...more
4/6/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
CFIUS ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Section 8 ,
The Clayton Act
The American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section recently held its annual Spring Meeting in Washington, DC, featuring updates from federal, state, and international antitrust enforcers and in-depth commentary on leading...more
4/4/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Community to Purchase Act (COPA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Joe Biden ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Robinson-Patman Act ,
Sherman Act ,
Spoliation
On February 3, 2023, the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced the withdrawal of three policy statements related to antitrust enforcement in healthcare. Although the withdrawn statements focus on...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on January 23, 2023, the implementation of increased thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act) as well as...more
1/25/2023
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
Congress has passed—and President Biden is expected to sign into law today—the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, which will significantly change antitrust merger notification regulations under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act...more
WHAT HAPPENED -
• Seven directors resigned from corporate boards following promises of enforcement of Clayton Act Section 8 (15 U.S.C. § 19) by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division (the Division), the...more
10/24/2022
/ Administrative Resignation ,
Antitrust Division ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 8 ,
The Clayton Act
WHAT HAPPENED -
During a conference last week, Ryan Danks, Director of Civil Enforcement at the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ), suggested that merging parties—not the antitrust enforcement...more
UNIQUE GUN-JUMPING CASE SANCTIONED BY FRENCH COMPETITION AUTHORITY -
A new European gun-jumping decision, following the European Court of Justice 2022 Marine Harvest judgment, sends a very strong message to companies that...more
9/21/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Advertising ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dot Com Disclosure Guide ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
French Competition Authority ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Marketing ,
Mergers ,
Price-Fixing
WHAT HAPPENED -
• GPM Investments (GPM) acquired 60 gas stations from Corrigan Oil (Corrigan).
• As part of the acquisition agreement, Corrigan agreed not to compete for a period of time with the gas stations purchased...more
US antitrust enforcers have signaled that private equity firms are the prime targets for upcoming aggressive antitrust merger enforcement. In a recent interview, US Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter stated that the...more
In remarks delivered on January 18, 2022, and January 24, 2022, Jonathan Kanter, the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, laid out the areas where he perceives...more
3/15/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Bid Rigging ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Joe Biden ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act
Last week, the US Treasury Department (Treasury) released a report that outlined a series of reforms aimed at boosting competition in the combined $250 billion US beer, wine and spirits markets in response to US President Joe...more
2/17/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Beer ,
Breweries ,
Category Management ,
Competition ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Distilleries ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
TTB ,
Tying ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Webinars ,
Wine & Alcohol ,
Wineries
On February 9, 2022, the US Treasury Department (Treasury) released a report with recommendations for how the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) can help drive...more
2/16/2022
/ Alcohol Beverage Control ,
Beer ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
New Regulations ,
TTB ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wine & Alcohol
On January 21, 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced increased thresholds for the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR). The thresholds are indexed to changes in the gross national product...more
On June 6, 2021, the US Senate passed the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Chairwoman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and...more
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a joint statement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on February 4, 2021, signaling comprehensive changes to the merger review process. In a significant development, the...more
2/10/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Filing ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Funding ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Termination ,
The Clayton Act
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday released decreased thresholds for the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR). The thresholds are indexed to changes in the gross national product (GNP). They...more