On December 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) provided insights into Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) regulatory changes and focus areas for 2025. Speaking at the American Conference Institute’s National...more
On November 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit published an advisory opinion that appears to severely narrow the statute’s most important exemptions. In the opinion, the...more
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
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
Last week the D.C. Circuit released its long-anticipated opinion in the Attorney General v. Wynn, holding that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) could not compel Steve Wynn to retroactively register under the Foreign Agents...more
On April 2, 2024, the Georgia State Senate sent Senate Bill 368, which creates a state law version of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for the State of Georgia, to Governor Brian Kemp for his signature. The...more
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)
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
The year 2023 ended with a bang in the cartel space, with a federal court of appeals upending what was long believed to be the scope of conduct that should be considered per se under the Sherman Act. The new year, 2024,...more
1/11/2024
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Audio Recording ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
European Commission ,
Healthcare ,
Italy ,
Korea ,
No-Poaching ,
Per Se Rule ,
Popular ,
Poultry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Self-Reporting ,
Sherman Act ,
Turkey ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Wiretapping
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently provided fresh insights into upcoming regulatory changes to key Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) exemptions and discussed new areas of concern. These insights were shared at...more
Morrison Foerster secured a significant victory for its pro bono client, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness (NMW), obtaining the dismissal of a mining company’s lawsuit that threatened to undo government efforts to...more
The third quarter of 2023 was eventful for both domestic and international cartel enforcers.
In the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to revamp policies to sharpen its enforcement efforts. On...more
10/27/2023
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Collusion ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) ,
Fraud ,
Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) ,
Military Contracts ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Safe Harbors ,
Self-Reporting ,
Sherman Act ,
World Cup
On July 11, 2023, the UK’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (“FIRS”) became law. As part of the National Security Act 2023, FIRS requires registration of arrangements intended to influence UK politics at the direction of...more
On April 25, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil enforcement action seeking to compel the Federación de Alcades Pedaneo (“FDAP”) to comply with requirements for registrants under the Foreign Agents...more
In an advisory opinion released last week by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit, DOJ adopts a potentially expansive interpretation of FARA that could require online networks,...more
At the beginning of the year, we predicted that 2022 would be the next big year for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). And 2022 delivered, though not always in ways...more
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
The UK government has proposed new registration requirements for foreign influence activities in the UK as part of its attempts to strengthen the resilience of the UK’s political system and democratic institutions against...more
On October 12, 2022, a federal district judge in the District of Columbia, Judge James E. Boasberg, dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) civil complaint against businessman Steve Wynn, which sought to compel Wynn to...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) determined approach to identifying violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) shows no signs of slowing down. An inadvertently disclosed warrant revealed that John Allen, a...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil enforcement action seeking to compel U.S. businessman Steve Wynn to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as an agent of the Chinese...more
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
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
Last week the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it is seeking public comment as it considers substantive updates to the implementing regulations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for the first time...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)