DIRECTOR’S OFFICE
Bureau Leadership
Holly Vedova, Director.
Tara Isa Koslov and John M. Newman are Deputy Directors.
The Director’s Office is also home to the Bureau’s Litigation Group, a team of experienced litigators and litigation support professionals who provide training, support, and oversight of the Bureau’s litigation docket.
PREMERGER NOTIFICATION OFFICE (PNO)
- Robert Jones, Assistant Director
- Kate Walsh, Deputy Assistant Director
The Premerger Notification Office administers the HSR program for both the FTC and the DOJ. Experts in HSR law and practice, PNO staff conduct the initial review of transactions subject to the HSR Act, and if the filings raise a competitive issue, coordinate the clearance process between the FTC and the DOJ. PNO staff respond to thousands of calls each year about premerger filing requirements, and can be easily accessed by calling the main PNO office number, 202-326-3100. Visit the PNO pages on the website for more HSR information and advice.
OFFICE OF POLICY & COORDINATION (OPC)
- Maria Coppola, Acting Assistant Director
- Synda Mark, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
OPC works with Bureau and Commission staff on litigation matters, speeches, testimony, appellate briefs, advisory opinions, and briefing papers. OPC attorneys also answer general antitrust inquiries received through antitrust@ftc.gov or the BC Phone Line at (202) 326-3300.
MERGERS I
- Stephen Mohr, Acting Assistant Director
- Jordan Andrew, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
- James Weiss, Deputy Assistant Director
- Sarah Wohl, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
The Division’s primary area of responsibility is reviewing transactions in health care-related industries, included branded and generic pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution, medical devices, and consumer health products. The Division also handles matters involving defense, scientific, industrial, technology, and consumer products. Mergers I has also been active in technology markets recently, such as those involving online search engines (Google/AdMob) and audience measurement services (Nielsen/Arbitron).
MERGERS II
- Peggy Bayer Femenella, Acting Assistant Director
- James Abell, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
- Joshua Goodman, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
- Mika Ikeda, Deputy Assistant Director
The Mergers II Division oversees a wide variety of industries including coal mines, chemicals, entertainment, and computer hardware and software. The Division has successfully challenged mergers in both federal and administrative courts, including CCC/Mitchell (auto insurance software), Polypore (battery separators), Tronox (titanium dioxide), Wilhelmsen (marine water treatment chemicals), and Peabody/Arch Coal (coal).
MERGERS III
- Peter Richman, Assistant Director
- Jessica Drake, Deputy Assistant Director
- Brian Telpner, Deputy Assistant Director
The Mergers III Division has successfully challenged anticompetitive mergers in industries as diverse as razors (Edgewell/Harry’s; P&G/Billie), online real estate listing services (CoStar/RentPath), title insurance (Fidelity/Stewart), and rooftop aerial measurement products (Verisk/EagleView). In addition, Mergers III is the traditional home of many of the FTC’s investigations in oil and gas industries, gaining consent settlements for mergers involving retail gas stations (ACT (Circle K)/Holiday; 7-Eleven/Sunoco), terminals (Par Petroleum/Mid Pac), and pipelines (Enbridge/Spectra Energy). Mergers III also helps to prepare the FTC’s annual report on concentration in the ethanol industry, and enforces the Commission’s rule preventing market manipulation in wholesale petroleum markets. See the Oil & Gas pages for additional information on the FTC’s oil and gas initiatives.
MERGERS IV
- Mark Seidman, Assistant Director
- Vacant, Deputy Assistant Director
- Rohan Pai, Deputy Assistant Director
The Mergers IV Division investigates transactions involving hospitals, physicians, office supply distribution, food distribution, supermarkets, specialty retail stores, consumer goods, and casinos. The Division has brought a number of cases in federal and administrative court, including Hackensack Meridian/Englewood; Methodist Le Bonheur/Tenet; Jefferson/Einstein; Post/Treehouse; Smucker/Conagra; Sanford Health/Mid Dakota; DraftKings/FanDuel; Staples/Office Depot; Advocate/NorthShore; Cabell/St. Mary’s; Sysco/US Foods; ProMedica/St. Luke's; Phoebe Putney/Palmyra; and OSF/Rockford.
HEALTH CARE DIVISION
- Markus Meier, Assistant Director
- Bradley Albert, Deputy Assistant Director
- Kara Monahan, Deputy Assistant Director
The Health Care Division investigates the business activities of physicians and other health professionals, pharmaceutical companies, institutional providers, and insurers, and also reviews mergers involving health care products and services. The Division’s early work led to several landmark cases in the Supreme Court and lower federal courts applying antitrust law principals to conduct by physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers. Today, a major focus of the Health Care Division is the FTC’s effort to stop anticompetitive pay-for-delay agreements among pharmaceutical companies that unlawfully insulate branded drugs from competition from lower-cost generic drugs. The Division also provides guidance on health care competition to policy makers, federal and foreign agencies, industry, and the public; much of this guidance is available on the Health Care webpages.
ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES (ACP)
- Geoffrey Green, Assistant Director
- Patricia McDermott, Deputy Assistant Director
ACP is the center of the Bureau’s enforcement efforts against anticompetitive conduct in industries other than health care, pharmaceuticals and digital technology. ACP’s work involves not only stopping illegal conduct but also shaping the law. ACP’s ongoing work includes issues of intellectual property rights, attempts by professional and regulatory boards to limit competition, and immunities from and exceptions to the antitrust laws. In the area of industry standard-setting, ACP has become well-known for a series of cases involving anticompetitive conduct by members of standard-setting organizations.
TECHNOLOGY ENFORCEMENT DIVISION (TED)
- Patricia Galvan, Assistant Director
- Krisha Cerilli, Deputy Assistant Director
- Ryan Quillian, Deputy Assistant Director
The primary focus of the Technology Enforcement Division is to identify and investigate anticompetitive conduct (including consummated mergers) in markets in which digital technology is an important dimension of competition, such as online platforms, digital advertising, social networking, software, operating systems, and streaming services. TED also leverages its existing expertise and works with other Commission staff, including technologists, to develop a deep understanding of some unique features of complex, dynamic digital markets.
COMPLIANCE
- Maribeth Petrizzi, Assistant Director
- Susan Huber, Deputy Assistant Director
- Eric Rohlck, Deputy Assistant Director
The Compliance Division staff help draft and negotiate Commission orders originating in the Bureau, and oversee company conduct required by the order. Compliance staff review proposed divestitures, and go to court to enforce Commission orders and to seek penalties for order violations. The Division also evaluates requests to reopen, modify, or set aside orders, and renders advice to respondents regarding their order obligations, and investigates possible violations of the HSR Act and recommends enforcement actions when violations are found.
REGIONAL OFFICES
Three regional offices also handle competition investigations:
- The Northwest Region, Charles Harwood, Director;
- The Western Region, San Francisco, Kerry O’Brien, Director
- The Northeast Region, William Efron, Director.