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Note: Some links below may have expired. In that case, the links have been rerouted to the most recent version of that document or page.

  • Important Reminder for Filers: Remember that for a size of person (SOP) determination, the regularly prepared financials relied upon may not be older than fifteen months.  At the end of March, you may no longer rely on financials dated 12/31/20 for SOP purposes.  (03/22/22)
  • The FY2020 HSR Annual Report is now available! You can check out the details in the Commission’s press release. (11/09/21)
  • Notice regarding filing via Accellion:  Accellion accounts that are inactive for 30 days will deactivate, preventing you from using the new Accellion online form. To reactivate your account, when you are ready to file, you will need to request an HSR filing link from premerger@ftc.gov and submit using that link. Afterwards, your account will again be active.  (10/07/21).
  • Important Notice: Due to the creation of a new federal holiday, Juneteenth, which occurs on June 19, the PNO will be closed on Friday, June 18, 2021. Any filings submitted on Friday will be credited as received on Monday, June 21, and waiting periods will start on that day. Additionally, if you have withdrawn a filing and are due to refile on June 18, or if you have received a notice of required filing with a deadline of June 18, you will have until June 21st to do so. Finally, all waiting periods due to expire on June 18 are unaffected.  (06/17/21)
  • Important Reminder for Filers: Remember that for a size of person (SOP) determination, the regularly prepared financials relied upon may not be older than fifteen months.  At the end of March, you may no longer rely on financials dated 12/31/19 for SOP purposes.  (03/03/21)
  • Please see our new blog post on the 2021 HSR thresholds, which will become effective on March 4, 2021.  (02/19/21)
  • You may have noticed a new feature on the right side of this page. The PNO has begun posting the rough number of transactions filed each month! Check out our blog post explaining the numbers. We’ve started out by posting the last nine months, but will cut that back to a rolling six months when we add the July numbers. (07/10/20)
  • Please note that the PNO will not grant early termination of the waiting period until BOTH parties have filed. See the updated language on the About Early Termination Notices page. (09/04/20)
  • 07-07-20 UPDATE: We have amended the Guidance for Filing Parties to provide additional instruction when filers are uploading a large number of documents for an HSR filing. We have found that handling more than fifty documents at a time is problematic for our system. In the revised guidance, we provide instructions for requesting multiple links and submitting the filing documents in multiple uploads. (07/07/20)
  • 06-22-20 UPDATE: We have edited the Guidance for Filing Parties to clarify the use of e-signatures on the Certification and Affidavit. (06/22/20)
  • The PNO has a new blog post with reminders and tips for successfully submitting HSR filings fees. With all the changes to procedures to accommodate e-filing and PNO telework, we thought this would be a good time to remind filers how to avoid unnecessary delays due to HSR fee issues. (05/19/20)
  • 04-29-20 UPDATE: The PNO is updating its policy on the handling of original signature pages when submitting an HSR filing. Prior guidance asked parties to mail the originals to the PNO. Effective immediately, please hold on to hard copy originals; do not send them in. The PNO will issue further instructions on signature pages when the crisis is over. Please note that when e-filing, parties may submit either a scanned PDF copy of the hard copy signature pages or PDFs with an e-signature. The Guidance for Filing Parties page has been updated with this and other new information. (04/29/20)
  • 04-15-20 UPDATE: When you are naming the PDF documents for submission via the e-filing system, please keep the file names descriptive, but short. For example, instead of naming a document “4c-1 September 2019 Confidential Information Presentation Project Persephone”, a shorter name like “4c-1 September 2019 CIM” works better. The PNO has been having technical difficulties opening documents with very long names. Thank you. (04/15/20)

  • The Filing Fee Information and Current Thresholds pages have been updated with the 2019 HSR thresholds. (04/04/19)

  • 04-03-20 UPDATE: Please carefully review the updated Guidance for Filing Parties. We have deleted out of date information and provided additional guidance for clarity.
  • Please check out this important BC blog post, Resuming early termination of HSR reviews. (03/27/20)

  • Many HSR practitioners have requested that we announce when an Informal Interpretation has been superseded in whole or in part. To that end, we have created a new page to list informal interpretations that no longer represent the position of the PNO. The new page will list superseded interpretations starting from January 1, 2019, onward. See the new page here: Superseded Informal Interpretations. (03/19/19)

  • 03-17-20 UPDATE: The PNO and DOJ have started to receive e-filings. Please review the Guidance for Filing Parties which has been updated with some things we’ve learned. Of special note, please DO NOT upload Zip files to Accellion. DO NOT request a link to submit a filing until you are ready to do so. Also, please follow the naming instructions for your submission. For example, “Jones 001 – SmithCo/TargetCo – Acquired – 03-20-20”. (03/17/20)
  • 03-16-20 UPDATE: The last early terminations were granted on 03-13-20. We will not be granting additional ETs, even if you filed before then. Also, please check out the Guidance for Filing Parties which has been updated. (03/16/20)
  • Please see the Guidance for Filing Parties for the specific procedures to use to submit HSR filings using the temporary e-filing system. This will be the only way to file until the COVID-19 emergency has passed. (03/13/20)
  • IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please see this press release related to the submission of HSR filings during the current COVID-19 emergency. More details to follow. (03-13-20)

  • The Commission has amended the Fiscal Year 2017 Hart-Scott-Rodino Annual Report to add two non-HSR matters that were inadvertently left out of the report when it was published in 2018. This brings the total number of merger enforcement actions in fiscal year 2017 to 23, with 15 final consent orders. The corrected 40th report can be found on the HSR Annual Reports page. (03/11/19)

  • Please check out our new blog post on HSR threshold adjustments and reportability for 2019. (03/07/19)

  • The 2019 HSR thresholds have been posted in the Federal Register and will be effective on April 3, 2019.  Read the Commission announcement and the Federal Register entry. A blog post with tips on applying the new thresholds will be posted soon.  (03/04/19)

  • Check out our new blog post: “Control no longer controlling for HSR reporting of not-for-profit combinations”.

  • Over the summer, the Premerger Notification Office held three brown bag meetings with experienced HSR practitioners. The meetings were an opportunity for the HSR bar to meet staff, share comments regarding the HSR process, and address any concerns or “big picture” policies. Over 50 attorneys from various law firms attended one of the three 60-90 minute sessions held in May, June, and July at the FTC’s Constitution Center. A summary of the brown bags, including the issues discussed and important guidance, has been added to the HSR Resources page and is now available here.

  • IMPORTANT NOTE ON DOWNLOADING THE FILLABLE HSR FORM: Use of any browser other than Internet Explorer may result in an error message when clicking the PDF link Adobe Acrobat (HSR Form ver. 1.0.2). Consequently, use of Internet Explorer is advised to download the form. Alternatively, you can right click on the PDF link and select “Save link as” to download the PDF directly to your computer before opening it with Adobe. (10/18/18)

  • The Medicare Act filing instructions have been updated with DOJ’s current address. (08/07/18)

  • IMPORTANT NOTICE: Given the current high volume of HSR filings, it is even more important than usual to note when your filing is related to other filings as part of a larger transaction – for instance, a main transaction with a backside filing or a buyer making two acquisitions at the same time.

    When you have related filings, please include in the cover letter and Item 3(a): THIS FILING SHOULD BE PROCESSED WITH RELATED FILINGS MADE BY [insert relevant other parties]. This will assist the PNO in the efficient and timely processing of your transaction. Thank you. (08/03/18)

  • IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Premerger Notification Office no longer accepts checks at the Constitution Center. This is true whether delivered by messenger or by mail. Please DO NOT send checks to the PNO. The Commission strongly discourages check payments, but if checks are used to pay filing fees, they must be sent to Financial Operations at the FTC HQ. See the Filing Fee Information page for full instructions. (07/26/18)

  • The DOJ Premerger Office has created a new, shared email address for all communications to DOJ relating to HSR filings. Send all email to premerger@usdoj.gov. (07/24/18)

  • Early Termination Notices data is now available to developers via our HSR Early Termination Notices API Endpoint. (06/28/18)

  • The Commission, with the concurrence of DOJ, has amended the rules and the HSR Form Instructions to make them clearer and easier to apply, and to allow for the use of email in certain circumstances. These changes include clarifying §§ 801.1(b)(2), 802.1, 802.30(c), 802.41, 803.5(a)(1),803.11(c), 803.12(a)-(c) and 803.20(b). The Commission Notice can be found here.

    Changes to the Form Instructions include updating the address of the DOJ Premerger Unit, and clarifying definitions and Items 3 through 7, among others. The new HSR Form Instructions can be found here. If you have any questions about the changes, please contact HSRHelp@ftc.gov. (06/25/18)
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