On Nov. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court declined certiorari for the U.S. v. Brewbaker decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, leaving undisturbed the ruling that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors...more
3/7/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Horizontal Agreements ,
SCOTUS ,
Sherman Act ,
Statutory Violations ,
Unfair Competition ,
Vertical Agreement
On February 5, U.S. Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi issued 14 memoranda to Department of Justice (DOJ) employees framing the DOJ's current policies and enforcement priorities. These shifting enforcement priorities are aligned...more
2/21/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
BSA/AML ,
Cartels ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Money Laundering
Last week, the Supreme Court declined cert for the Fourth Circuit’s Brewbaker decision, leaving undisturbed the ruling that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors when the target companies have a hybrid...more
On September 23, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) updated its guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP). The DOJ’s...more
Doubling down on guidance originally issued in September 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced updates to standard preservation letters and...more
2/9/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Criminal Liability ,
Data Preservation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Slack ,
White Collar Crimes
With the end of summer and fall right around the corner, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division is gearing up for several crucial displays of its criminal enforcement priorities across multiple...more
9/13/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Government Investigations ,
Monopolization ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sherman Act ,
White Collar Crimes
With methods of professional communication constantly evolving, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently revised its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs to address how prosecutors should evaluate the ways that...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In perhaps the DOJ’s...more
On April 3, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (DOJ) filed a complaint against and settlement with Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision), alleging the company violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act....more
4/10/2023
/ Activision ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Contract Drafting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
eSports ,
Final Judgment ,
Salary Caps ,
Sherman Act ,
Tax Liability ,
Video Games ,
Wage Withholding
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Having finally secured a...more
Allegations of a sprawling poultry price-fixing scheme affecting millions of Americans. An “unheard-of” three trials. Two mistrials. The Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division...more
Almost two years after indicting Ryan Hee for allegedly conspiring to allocate staffing and fix the wages of nurses, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1), the government and Mr. Hee have entered into a...more
On Tuesday, December 6, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division, announced the unsealing of criminal charges against 12 individuals in the Southern District of Texas as part of an 11-year price fixing and...more
On October 12, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to adopt new electronic recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers, security-based swap dealers (SBSDs), and major security-based swap participants (MSBSPs)...more
The Department of the Treasury, as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), recently issued CFIUS Enforcement and Penalty Guidelines. While CFIUS — the committee that reviews potential...more
On September 15, President Biden issued Executive Order 14083 (EO) — “Ensuring Robust Consideration of Evolving National Security Risks by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States” — providing formal guidance...more
On the heels of a speech delivered by Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco to NYU Law School on September 15, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memorandum and announced further revisions to its existing corporate...more
In what the Manhattan federal prosecutors have touted as the first-ever guilty plea in an insider trading case involving cryptocurrency, the brother of a former Coinbase Global, Inc. (Coinbase) product manager pled guilty to...more
Why It Matters -
As evidenced in the recently published 2020 Year in Review Report (Report), the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section (Fraud Section) demonstrated its resilience despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its...more
On February 9, Acting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) Chair Allison Herren Lee announced that senior officers in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement (Division) will once again be authorized to approve the...more
While President Biden’s nominee for attorney general, Merrick Garland, awaits a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Acting U.S. Attorney General Robert M. “Monty” Wilkinson has revoked May 10, 2017 guidance issued...more
On Friday January 1, with the Senate’s floor vote to override the president’s veto, Congress passed the 60th annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Encompassed within the $740.5 billion military spending bill is an...more
1/4/2021
/ Congressional Override ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
NDAA ,
Presidential Veto ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Statute of Limitations