Antitrust & Trade Regulation

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Bob Connolly   bob@reconnollylaw.com In a prior post I listed a number of ideas I thought it would be useful for the Biden Administration’s Antitrust Division to consider when the new leadership is in place.  The first item I wrote on was “A Call to Reopen the Atlanta and Dallas Field Offices.”  Below is a short note on another initiative I hope the DOJ Antitrust Division will consider: Support Senator Klobuchar’s Proposed Legislation to…
Following a period of relative leniency for pharmaceutical companies, a Multilateral Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force formed by key antitrust enforcement agencies has been established to review and update merger analysis. The task force includes representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Canadian Competition Bureau, the European Commission Directorate General for Competition, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and the offices of state attorneys general. Read our full …
There is no question that antitrust policy, at any time, is highly influenced by the prevailing economic thinking. Equally unquestionable is the fact that economic thinking is highly influenced by one’s political philosophy. With these principles established, the current debate over the purpose of the antitrust laws, and thus the standards they ought to employ, seems an inevitable conclusion to the shifting economic and political tides that have taken place over the last several decades.…
[In the near future there will be new leadership at the Antitrust Division.  But “near future” is a relative term so before I forget what I was thinking about, I offer this post. Bob Connolly, bob@reconnollylaw.com] When there is a new Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust she/he will no doubt have many new ideas for running the Division.  Attorney General Merrick Garland has a strong interest and background in antitrust and undoubtedly has also…
The European Commission (EC) recently revealed a major change in merger policy affecting cross-border M&A deals in Europe. The new referral practice creates significant uncertainty for deals that would not have previously triggered scrutiny in the EU. In our latest client alert, we shed more light on the EC’s new referral policy and identify the practical key implications when planning cross-border M&A deals in Europe.…