Competition Matters

When Congress passed the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, it created minimum dollar thresholds to limit the burden of premerger reporting. In 2000, it amended the HSR statute to require the annual adjustment of these thresholds based on the change in gross national product. As a result, reportability under the Act changes from year to year as the statutory thresholds adjust. The PNO fields many questions about the upcoming adjustments to the HSR thresholds from parties whose transactions may take place around the time of the revisions.

When Acting Chairman Ohlhausen launched the FTC’s Economic Liberty Task Force in early 2017 to shine a spotlight on occupational licensing, the goal was not only to advocate for needed reforms. She also wanted to give a voice to the millions of American workers and consumers – especially military families – whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by misguided policies.

The staff of the Premerger Notification Office processes, reviews, and answers inquiries related to around two thousand transactions, involving roughly 4,000 HSR filings, each year. The number one priority of the PNO is to process incoming HSR filings in a timely fashion so Bureau of Competition and Antitrust Division litigation staff can review filings of interest and we can clear non-problematic transactions for closing as quickly as possible.

If you’re a competition policy wonk (a title we both wear proudly), we probably don’t need to convince you to stop by or tune in to the FTC’s upcoming November 7 roundtable discussion to explore ongoing research about the effects of occupational licensing on competition, consumers, and the workforce. For the rest of you…please read on, and give us a chance to try.

Today the FTC and DOJ released the Hart-Scott-Rodino Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2016. The Report is the 39th accounting of the agencies’ premerger notification program under the HSR Act, and it covers all premerger notification and merger enforcement activity initiated between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016. Here is a data-driven summary of the Report.

The Hart Scott Rodino (HSR) Act and Rules require that parties to certain mergers and acquisitions submit premerger notification filings and wait before consummating the transaction. Parties must often balance the HSR filing requirement with a number of other regulatory requirements, as well as any conditions to closing.

Chirping birds, babbling brooks, soft rain showers, and children gleefully playing outdoors – these sounds of spring bring us joy, especially after a long winter. But for the millions of Americans who have hearing loss, full enjoyment of these and other everyday sounds can be out of reach. Others might benefit from listening assistance in certain situations, such as in a noisy restaurant or while watching TV. For too many, even participation in a simple conversation can be difficult.

This is National Consumer Protection Week, a week set aside every year to help consumers know their rights and make well-informed choices in the marketplace.

Yesterday, I spoke to a group of antitrust practitioners and those involved in healthcare policy at AAI’s Healthcare Roundtable, where I discussed past and present FTC work to promote competition in healthcare markets.