As expected, the final guidelines expand the types of transactions that may receive heightened scrutiny or result in a merger challenge....more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) recently introduced proposed revisions to the existing merger guidelines. The new draft guidelines, if enacted in a form similar...more
In Short -
The Situation: In parallel federal actions, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC")...more
7/24/2023
/ CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Market Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
A plea deal with a paving contractor follows the Department of Justice Antitrust Division's ("DOJ") threat to resurrect criminal enforcement of the Sherman Act § 2 prohibition on monopolization and attempted monopolization....more
Indictment is DOJ's second recently filed in the North District of Texas.
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") has brought a criminal indictment against a corporate defendant for agreeing with competitors not to solicit...more
The Trump Administration leadership at the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have announced reforms regarding merger reviews. This Jones Day White Paper reviews these reforms and their strategic...more
1/15/2019
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Privilege Logs ,
Trump Administration
A federal district court has ordered a defendant in private antitrust litigation to divest a manufacturing plant following a competitor's merger challenge. Although the decision is certain to be appealed, it may embolden...more
The Situation: Between 2013 and 2017, the average length of a U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") Antitrust Division merger review increased 65 percent to 10.8 months.
The Response: DOJ announced reforms to improve...more
10/4/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Letters of Request ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Subpoenas ,
Third-Party ,
Transparency
After eighteen months of investigation and litigation, a federal district court has rejected the Justice Department's challenge to AT&T's $108 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. Although the government could appeal, the...more
The Situation: The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently published a blog post reminding merging parties to avoid creating antitrust liability through the exchange of competitively sensitive information during merger...more
4/27/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contractual Safeguards ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Information Sharing ,
Mergers ,
Sensitive Business Information ,
Sherman Act
The Situation: The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division ("DOJ") has adopted new terms in recent consent decrees that enhance DOJ's ability to enforce its settlements, most importantly by lowering the evidentiary...more
2/12/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Burden of Proof ,
CFIUS ,
Consent Decrees ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Mergers
The Background: Since 1941, performing rights organizations ("PROs"), which pool the copyrights held by a work's composer, songwriter, and publisher and collectively license those rights to music users, have been subject to...more
2/7/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
ASCAP ,
BMI ,
Consent Decrees ,
Copyright ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Licensing Rights ,
Music Industry ,
Public Performance Rights ,
Publishing Copyrights ,
Sound Recording Copyrights
The Federal Trade Commission staff have completed a new study evaluating its process for designing and implementing merger remedies and the success of the remedies it has imposed in the past. Its report—"The FTC's Merger...more