Competition Matters

On Friday, March 13, as part of the Bureau’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation, and in partnership with the Antitrust Division of DOJ, we announced that the Bureau’s Premerger Notification Office would adopt a

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.

More and more, merging parties argue that their merger does not raise competition concerns because they are not each other’s closest competitors. Parties have advanced this argument even in markets where there will be only two or three remaining firms post-transaction, including the merged firm. This argument is not new, and it often misunderstands merger analysis.

Parties regularly present their arguments and defenses of conduct and mergers to the Front Office of the Bureau if staff has recommended a challenge. A surprising number of these presentations begin with a recap of “how we got here” that includes various complaints about the investigating staff. Common complaints have included: the investigation is taking too long; staff didn’t present their concerns early enough in the investigation; and market definitions or areas of concern have evolved during the investigation. To be blunt, complaining about the staff is not a good defense.

The Bureau of Competition is pleased to announce the conversion of the Technology Task Force into a permanent division in the Bureau of Competition. Effective October 1, 2019, it has become the Technology Enforcement Division.

The FTC’s Bureau of Economics is updating its guidance regarding the best practices for submitting data and economic analysis related to antitrust investigations. BE routinely engages in econometric analysis of data obtained from the parties, third parties, and independent data vendors. Similarly, consultants retained by the parties often submit their own quantitative analyses.

The Front Office of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition receives a great deal of advocacy from the bar. Virtually every day, parties and their counsel make arguments and present evidence to us regarding the various merger and conduct matters handled by the Bureau’s various Divisions.

Crafting effective merger remedies is one of the Commission’s most important tasks. Done well, a divestiture prevents the competitive harm likely to result from a proposed merger and ensures that competition remains as robust as it was premerger.

The great majority of attorneys appearing before the Commission share a sense of practicing at the height of our profession.  They engage with Commission staff on pressing issues of fact, antitrust law and economic theory in matters of great importance to consumers and our economy.  For a few, however, there may be perceived opportunities to seek an advantage in the debate through misrepresentation of key facts.  For those few, we want to remind practitioners that attorneys appearing in an investigation or administrative proceeding owe a duty of candor and professionalism to the Commission