On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 to adopt a final rule broadly banning post-employment noncompete agreements. This federal ban prohibits for-profit employers from entering into noncompete...more
4/29/2024
/ Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Executives ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Former Employee ,
Model Forms ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
Looking back at 2023 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, antitrust-related breakup fees continued to be an important tool in allocating antitrust risk between deal parties. These typically take the form of a “reverse”...more
The United States Department of Commerce (Commerce) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comments on new proposed regulations that would, if enacted, impose extensive Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer...more
2/1/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
IaaS ,
Know Your Customers ,
New Rules ,
NPRM ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced 2024 adjustments to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) thresholds. These thresholds determine which mergers and acquisitions may be required to be reported to United States federal...more
1/24/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
In the coming year, Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chair Lina Khan and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Jonathan Kanter are expected to continue to advance a more aggressive...more
1/23/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Section 5 ,
Vertical Mergers
Recent trends in antitrust merger enforcement have brought into sharp focus the acquisition of nascent or potential competitors in the technology and life sciences sectors. These deals include so-called “killer acquisitions”...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) (together, the “agencies”) jointly released their final revised 2023 Merger Guidelines, reflecting modest adjustments...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vertical Mergers
On August 9, President Biden issued an executive order (E.O.) directing the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), in consultation with the U.S. Department of Commerce and other U.S. agencies, to adopt regulations that...more
8/11/2023
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cybersecurity ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury
In an effort to “combat the online sale of stolen, counterfeit, and dangerous consumer products,” Congress passed the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (the “INFORM...more
On February 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) expanded the scope of trade control measures...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced 2023 adjustments to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) thresholds. These thresholds determine which mergers and acquisitions must be reported to United States federal antitrust agencies...more
On December 23, 2022, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the “Act”) with bipartisan support. In addition to numerous spending provisions totaling $1.7 trillion, the Act includes antitrust-related...more
On December 8, 2022, the same day that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) delivered its opening arguments to a federal judge in California in the FTC’s bid to halt Meta’s acquisition of virtual reality gaming company Within,...more
12/23/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Big Tech ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Microsoft ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Reality
On July 9, 2021, just days into her tenure as Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) Chair, Lina Khan led the Commission’s charge to rescind the agency’s 2015 policy statement (2015 Statement) on its approach to...more
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that directors at several technology companies have resigned as a consequence of the agency’s renewed focus on overlapping board membership between...more
10/26/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Big Tech ,
Board of Directors ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Internal Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 8 ,
Startups ,
Technology Sector ,
The Clayton Act
On October 7, 2022, the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released two rules implementing new export controls on advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing items in addition to new...more
10/24/2022
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Commerce Control List ,
ECCNs ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Investment ,
General Licenses ,
New Rules ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector
CFIUS Executive Order Highlights Current Concerns Over Wide Range of Foreign Investments -
On September 15, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order (“EO”) on the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the...more
9/22/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cybersecurity ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector
This morning the European Commission (EC) moved to unwind and block Illumina’s $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail. Illumina announced that it intends to appeal the decision. This development comes on the heels of Illumina’s...more
FTC Suit Aspires to Chill M&A-Based Growth by Larger Tech Firms -
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has consistently criticized past FTC leadership for being too lenient with Big Tech M&A activity, and for not...more
After months of partisan deadlock, this week Georgetown law professor and privacy scholar Alvaro M. Bedoya was confirmed by the Senate to serve as a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Bedoya’s confirmation gives...more
This alert summarizes the current state of trade measures and restrictions against both Russia and Belarus, following our last update on February 25, 2022....more
3/9/2022
/ Aircraft ,
Belarus ,
Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
ECCNs ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Commerce Department
The United States government, in partnership with allies and partners, issued new and expanded sanctions and trade controls in response to Russia’s continued invasion into Ukraine. These measures followed the sanctions that...more
In a departure from past enforcement priorities, the Federal Trade Commission has challenged three vertical mergers over the past year, leading the parties to abandon two of the three deals...more
The United States government, in coordination with the UK and EU, has imposed a round of targeted measures in what could be the first of a series of escalations in response to Russia’s recent actions along the Ukraine...more
2/23/2022
/ Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Markets ,
Sovereign Debt ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
Ukraine
The Federal Trade Commission announced its 2022 adjustments to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) thresholds. These thresholds determine which mergers and acquisitions must be reported to United States federal antitrust agencies for...more