Svn merge 1 revision

The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has had a busy summer  updating its merger policies.  First, it issued a new merger remedies guidelines in June, followed up shortly thereafter, in collaboration with the FTC,  with new rules for submission of information for qualifying transactions under the Hart Scott Rodino (HSR) Act.  This article will summarize both developments.On June 17, the DOJ issued its updated merger remedies guidelines (The “Updated Guidelines”), the first revision since the DOJ issued its initial guidance in 2004. The Updated Guidelines finally acknowledge the benefit of certain conduct-related remedies in mergers that the DOJ has been implementing as a matter of  practice over the past few years. Commentators have  point to conduct-oriented remedies in recent consent decrees in cases such as U.S. v. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., U.S. v. Comcast Corp. and U.S. v. Google, Inc. as the bases for … [Read more...] about The DOJ’s New Merger Remedies Guideliness and the Joint Revised HSR Rules

The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (the "agencies") recently proposed a revision of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines ("Guidelines"). The Guidelines state the analytical framework and policy rationale behind how the agencies evaluate the potential competitive effects of mergers and acquisitions among businesses at the same level in the supply chain.The Guidelines were published in 1992 and amended in 1997. The stated purpose of the new revisions is to update them to (a) reflect the agencies' actual current practices in reviewing horizontal transactions, and (b) allow for greater flexibility in such review. The most significant proposed changes are:A shift away from step-by-step analytical analysis to a more flexible, fact-specific inquiry into the likely effects of the transaction.Changes in approach to market definition, perhaps making it a less important factor in determining likely competitive effects.Upward adjustments to the … [Read more...] about DOJ and FTC Issue Proposed Revisions to Horizontal Merger Guidelines

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE WASHINGTON — The effort on Capitol Hill to protect Robert Mueller's job as the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation is gaining momentum. In the wake of President Trump's Monday comments suggesting he had not ruled out firing Mueller, two pairs of senators on Wednesday announced that they had merged bipartisan legislation they had introduced last August that would protect the special counsel, even as Republican leadership on Capitol Hill continued to indicate they did not see the need for such a bill. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., combined their bill with the measure proposed by Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Chris Coons, D-Del., to produce the “Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act.” The bill would ensure that only a senior official at the Department of Justice can fire the special counsel and the … [Read more...] about Bipartisan group of senators merge bills to protect Mueller

Today, New York health regulators proposed revised rules that would allow health care providers to merge or cooperate with one another without being subject to federal or state antitrust scrutiny.The state’s Department of Health proposed regulations establishing a process for entities to obtain a Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) pursuant to Public Health Law Article 29-F.  Article 29-F sets forth the State’s policy of encouraging appropriate collaborative arrangements among health care providers who might otherwise be competitors, if the benefits of such arrangements outweigh any disadvantages likely to result from a reduction of competition.  The statute requires the Department to establish a regulatory structure allowing it to engage in active state supervision as necessary to promote state action immunity under state and federal antitrust laws.The proposed regulations were initially published in the State Register on September 18, 2013, and have … [Read more...] about New York Proposes Revised Regulations for Health Care Collaborations

The cycle of certain laws is all too familiar. A specific issue or need arises and gains national attention. Congress drafts a law with the best intentions of solving the problem. Experts and the public applaud the legislation for bringing significant change. Only years later does the country discover that there are additional consequences beyond what the drafters intended. The discovery of these new issues sends Congress back to the drawing board.The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a prime example of a law that has been through this cycle and needs to be redrafted. When the legislation was first passed in 1977, the federal government had recently discovered that American companies were making millions of dollars in bribes to various foreign government officials. The FCPA prohibits companies and individuals from offering or making payments to any foreign official for the purpose of inducing the recipient to direct new or continuing business to the briber.More than 30 years … [Read more...] about Congress, Get Out Your Pencils: FCPA Rules Are Ripe for Revision