On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, the Senate confirmed Gail Slater to be assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice by a vote of 78-19. Slater has held positions at the Federal Trade...more
On Jan. 10, the FTC announced the 2025 filing thresholds under the HSR Act, as well as the 2025 filing fees. The new thresholds will be published in the Federal Register in the coming days and will apply to transactions...more
1/14/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Merger Controls ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Final Rule mandates the adoption of new, expanded Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) forms and the creation of a public comment portal for pending transactions. The new HSR forms will become...more
10/15/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Operative Documents ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Required Documentation ,
Required Forms ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Updated Forms
On April 23, the FTC issued its much-anticipated Final Rule banning worker non-competes. The Final Rule targets the Biden administration’s goal of reducing barriers to employee mobility....more
5/3/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Executives ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OIRA ,
Regulatory History ,
Section 5
On March 5, President Joe Biden launched the Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing (Strike Force) for the purpose of implementing policies in his July 9, 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American...more
On Jan. 22, the FTC announced the 2024 filing thresholds under the HSR Act, as well as the 2024 filing fees. The new thresholds will be published in the Federal Register in the coming days....more
1/24/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
On Dec. 18, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly issued new merger guidelines (Guidelines), finalizing draft guidelines published in July and replacing the 2010 Horizontal Merger...more
On Oct. 30, the White House issued Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (Executive Order). In the wide-ranging Executive Order, the White House provides a road...more
In spring 2022, the Department of Justice (the DOJ) announced its intention to aggressively pursue monopolization cases. While the DOJ is continuing its aggressive prosecution of criminal cases, it is also now utilizing...more
10/16/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Monopoly ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Sherman Act
On July 19, 2023, the FTC and the DOJ (collectively, the agencies) jointly released new draft merger guidelines. The agencies assert that the proposed guidelines will help them better assess the impact of proposed mergers...more
On June 27, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release[1] announcing proposed changes to reporting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the HSR Act). Under...more
6/30/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
NPRM ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Required Forms ,
Rulemaking Process
We recently wrote about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC or the Commission) controversial new Proposed Rule that would largely ban non-compete agreements between employers and “workers.” The Proposed Rule would ban not...more
On Jan. 25, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the 2023 filing thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act). The notice also...more
On Jan. 5, the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-1 to propose a new rule under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that would largely ban non-compete agreements between employers and employees. If passed, the...more
1/9/2023
/ Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
Following its repudiation of its prior enforcement regime in July 2021, the FTC on Nov. 10 issued a Statement Regarding the Scope of “Unfair Methods of Competition” Under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act...more
In October 2022, the Federal Trade Commission issued a Public Comment opposing a Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) for the merger of State University of New York Upstate Medical University (SUNY Upstate) and Crouse...more
On May 23, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), at the prompting of President Joe Biden, announced that it will launch a civil investigation into the ongoing shortage of baby formula throughout the country. The FTC is...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. According to the fact sheet that accompanied the order, competition in the U.S. economy is in dire straits....more
On June 23, we hosted a webinar on the failing firm defense, focusing on defining the defense and offering tips on complying with it. We also tried to demonstrate that, sometimes, the antitrust agencies will not demand strict...more
BakerHostetler invites you to join us for an upcoming webinar, Federal Trade Commission - Antitrust Investigations - What You Should Know, offering vital insights into antitrust issues and investigations.
Topics:
• The...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continued its relentless focus on combinations in the healthcare industry last month when it filed an administrative complaint challenging a merger of two West Virginia hospitals, In the...more
Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez recently made statements regarding regulation of the developing “sharing economy” exemplified by on-demand apps and websites such as Uber and Airbnb that connect sellers of a...more
In 1914, Congress passed the FTC Act, creating the Federal Trade Commission. Section 5 of the FTC Act declared “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce” to be unlawful and gave the FTC enforcement power over...more
In 1914, Congress passed the FTC Act, creating the Federal Trade Commission. Section 5 of the FTC Act declared “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce” to be unlawful and gave the FTC enforcement power over...more
This week, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez announced that the FTC had voted to issue a formal statement setting forth three “Enforcement Principles” governing its authority over “unfair methods of competition.” As Ramirez...more