Antitrust experts from across the globe convened in Washington, D.C. on April 2–4, 2025 to discuss new enforcement policies and share updates on current issues in antitrust. We provide the key highlights from numerous panels...more
4/9/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Tariffs ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
In the final days of the Biden administration, the FTC and DOJ jointly issued antitrust guidelines on business practices that impact workers that replace the 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals, which...more
2/3/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Contract ,
False Statements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchises ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage-Fixing
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
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
After more than a year of scrutiny and commenting on lawsuits brought by others, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) finally entered the algorithmic price-fixing fray in its own right. On August 23, 2024, DOJ, along with eight...more
The Biden Administration recently convened the first meeting of its Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing (Strike Force), an interagency initiative announced in March 2024 to “root out and stop illegal corporate behavior...more
8/22/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Nursing Homes ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Supply Chain ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unfair Pricing
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
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 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
At this mid-point of 2023, and now several months on from the ABA’s Spring Antitrust conference, there have been several notable developments concerning cartel enforcement, as new leadership settles in at the U.S. Department...more
7/12/2023
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Military Contracts ,
No-Poaching ,
Olympics ,
Policy Statement ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Red Bull ,
Wage-Fixing ,
Whistleblowers
Antitrust practitioners from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. the week of March 27, 2023, for a series of industry meetings, centered around the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s 71st Annual Spring...more
4/11/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Monopoly ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Cartels ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Consent Decrees ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Mergers ,
Price-Fixing ,
Robinson-Patman Act ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage-Fixing
On February 2, 2023, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, Doha Mekki, announced that the DOJ was withdrawing three policy statements outlining safe...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
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
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 November 16, 2021, the Senate voted 68–29 to confirm Jonathan Kanter as the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Kanter’s confirmation is significant because the...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 July 9, 2021, President Biden signed a sweeping executive order (EO) creating a “whole-of-government competition policy” that directs more than a dozen federal agencies to work in concert with the Department of Justice...more
Are the stars aligning for antitrust reform? President Biden is filling key positions in the White House (Timothy Wu, National Economic Council) and reportedly at the FTC (Lina Khan, commissioner) with lawyers who have...more