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DOJ and FTC Release Annual Reports on Antitrust Enforcement Activity
Practical Law Legal Update w-001-8771 (Approx. 3 pages)
DOJ and FTC Release Annual Reports on Antitrust Enforcement Activity
by Practical Law Antitrust
| Published on 11 Apr 2016 • USA (National/Federal) |
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released their annual reports and highlights on antitrust enforcement activity for fiscal year 2015.
The DOJ and FTC recently released their annual reports on antitrust enforcement for the 2015 fiscal year. These reports highlighted the agencies' achievements in the previous year and illustrated their ongoing goals.
DOJ Annual Highlights
In its annual report the DOJ summarized its activity during the Obama administration to date, including:
- Over 125 merger matters resulting in consent decrees, restructuring, or abandonment.
- Four trial victories.
- Eleven successful litigations.
- Over $300 million in disgorgement and civil penalties.
The DOJ highlighted notable 2015 civil antitrust victories, including:
- An abandoned merger between General Electric and Electrolux (see What's Market, U.S. v. AB Electrolux, Electrolux North America, Inc., and General Electric Company (litigated case)).
- Blocking United Airlines' attempt to purchase additional slots at Newark Airport.
- Obtaining a temporary restraining order to block The Tribune Publishing Company's proposed acquisition of Freedom Communications Inc. (see What's Market, U.S. v. Tribune Publishing Company (litigated case)).
The DOJ also summarized its criminal enforcement actions during the Obama administration. Since President Obama took office, the DOJ charged 425 individuals and 144 companies with criminal antitrust violations and obtained $8.56 billion in criminal fines. In 2015 alone, the DOJ charged 20 corporations and 66 individuals and obtained $3.6 billion in criminal fines and penalties.
The DOJ continued its domestic and international cartel enforcement, including in the foreign exchange (FX) spot market and against a price-fixing scheme in the market for online poster art sales. For more information on the DOJ's cartel enforcement, see Cartels Toolkit.
FTC Annual Highlights
In its highlights of 2015 enforcement actions, the FTC continued to focus on the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets, challenging three hospital mergers and obtaining settlements in six pharmaceutical company mergers that the FTC said would likely have allowed firms to raise drug prices. The FTC also continued to challenge anticompetitive reverse payment settlement agreements (also known as pay-for-delay agreements).
The FTC achieved an important victory in the US Supreme Court's ruling in North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, in which the Supreme Court held that the State Board of Dental Examiners was not protected by state-action immunity when it allegedly violated the FTC Act by prohibiting non-dentists from providing teeth-whitening services in North Carolina (135 S. Ct. 1101 (2015)) (see Legal Update, Supreme Court Rules that State Board of Dental Examiners Not Protected by State-action Antitrust Immunity).
Further, in 2015 the FTC:
- Negotiated 18 merger consent decrees.
- Filed suit to block 6 mergers.
- Prompted 3 abandoned transactions.
- Filed five non-merger actions and three civil penalty actions.
- Issued two disgorgement orders.
The FTC also continued its competition policy and education initiatives, including by:
- Providing comments to state legislators.
- Working with the DOJ and international competition authorities to promote competition.
- Filing amicus briefs.
- Testifying before Congress.