The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently announced that two top executives of a talent and media agency resigned their positions on the board of directors for a competing business. They did so after...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (Order), a wide-ranging edict intended to promote competition in numerous sectors of the economy through 72 specific...more
At a time when antitrust enforcers, federal legislators and courts are heavily focused on technology platforms and digital advertisers like Google and Facebook, on June 11, 2021, the Second Circuit vacated an administrative...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force has struck again.
Launched in November 2019, PCSF is a multi-agency task force led by DOJ’s Antitrust Division and designed to combat antitrust crimes...more
While campaigning in 2020, President Biden broadcast his concern about increased market concentration in American agribusiness. To address perceived “monopolistic markets,” he promised to “protect small and medium-sized...more
Since the 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission has used its authority under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to secure consumer redress for frauds and scams perpetrated on consumers. On April 22, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court, in...more
Federal antitrust enforcers have long succeeded at unwinding consummated mergers. By contrast, private antitrust plaintiffs have not successfully forced companies to break up a completed acquisition. Until now.
On February...more
Just before leaving office, former President Trump signed the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (CHIRA) on January 13, 2021. Among other things, CHIRA amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to repeal the federal antitrust...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a new temporary suspension of grants of early termination for Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) waiting periods, effective February 4, 2021, while the FTC and the Department of Justice...more
Former President Trump signed into law the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2019 on December 23, 2020. The law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who provide information to a superior, to a...more
On February 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its adjusted reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act) in the Federal Register. The revised thresholds,...more
2/4/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
While the bill discussed in this alert was passed by Congress on December 22, 2020, it was not enacted by the end of its Congressional session. It is possible this bill has been signed, but Congress has not yet been notified....more
The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA), which provides additional benefits to the Leniency Program within the Department of Justice (DOJ), was reauthorized by President Trump on October 1, 2020....more
On September 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division (the Division) published the Merger Remedies Manual (the Manual), issuing new guidelines for remedying anticompetitive mergers. Specifically, the...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) committed to issuing expedited “Business Review Letters” (BRLs) to provide requested guidance concerning permissible types of...more
In a year of many firsts, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Competition published new Vertical Merger Guidelines on June 30, 2020 (Guidelines) — the first...more
New guidelines from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division emphasize that “individualized determinations” will drive the evaluation of corporate compliance programs. Announced June 1, 2020, these revisions also...more
Attorneys and business people working remotely can learn some antitrust and intellectual property law from those little building blocks keeping some children occupied during stay-at-home orders.
In October of 2018, Hong...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) committed to providing the DOJ’s Business Review Letters (BRLs) and the FTC’s Advisory Opinions (AOs) on an...more
On April 13, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) issued their Joint Antitrust Statement Regarding COVID-19 and Competition In Labor Markets (Joint...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued an important decision regarding who may sue to recover damages for purchasing goods at a higher price due to cartel or monopoly overcharges. The case, Marion...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) committed to providing the DOJ’s Business Review Letters (BRLs) and the FTC’s Advisory Opinions (AOs) on an...more
Recent developments show that, while the Department of Justice (DOJ) is willing to offer incentives for cooperation with criminal antitrust investigations, it also is increasing the resources to root out and uncover...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (and collectively, the agencies) issued on March 24, 2020 their Joint Antitrust Statement Regarding COVID-19 (Joint Statement) regarding their respective...more
COVID-19 (commonly known as the coronavirus) continues to cause unprecedented disruptions to the economy and supply chains worldwide. Consumer preferences have shifted rapidly as well, placing unusual demand pressure on...more