FTC Announces New Sessions of its Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection

The FTC sets new dates for the two previously scheduled sessions – broadband and consumer privacy – canceled due to the recent lapse in government funding.  The Hearings will also include sessions on international issues in competition, consumer protection and privacy, and the analysis of merger retrospectives, as well as a State Attorneys General roundtable.  The FTC also released more details for its March 25-26, 2019, hearing below.  

The hearings are as follows:

• March 20, 2019
  Competition and Consumer Protection Issues in U.S. Broadband Markets
  FTC Constitution Center Auditorium
  400 7th St., SW, Washington, D.C.
   
• March 25-26, 2019
  The FTC’s Role in a Changing World
  FTC Headquarters
  600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington D.C.
• This session will explore the FTC’s international role in light of globalization, technological change, and the increasing number of competition, consumer protection, and privacy laws and enforcement agencies around the world. Speakers will address the implications of international developments on the FTC’s work on behalf of American consumers.
• At the hearing, the FTC will consider:
• The effectiveness of FTC’s enforcement cooperation tools and approaches in light of new challenges in competition, consumer protection, and privacy matters;
• Approaches to promoting international policy coordination and best practice development; and
• Strategies for international enforcement and policy engagement given today’s dynamic global marketplace.
• March 25, 2019
  Roundtable with the State Attorneys General
  FTC Conference Center, SW Quadrant
  Constitution Center
  400 7th St., SW, Washington, D.C.
• April 12, 2019
  Merger Retrospectives
  FTC Headquarters
  600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington D.C.

The FTC will provide the agendas and participants for these hearings in future announcements.

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The Regulatory Mix Today: FTC Announces New Sessions of its Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection, FTC Premerger Notification Threshold Changes

FTC Premerger Notification Threshold Changes

The Federal Trade Commission announced the updated size of transaction thresholds for premerger notifications filings and interlocking directorates.  For 2019, the size-of-transaction threshold for reporting proposed mergers and acquisitions under Section 7A of the Clayton Act will adjust from $84.4 million to $90 million. The 2019 thresholds under Section 8 of the Act that trigger prohibitions on certain interlocking memberships on corporate boards of directors are $36,564,000 for Section 8(a)(l ) and $3,656,400 for Section 8(a)(2)(A).

The FTC revises the thresholds annually, based on the change in gross national product.  The revised thresholds under Section 7A of the Clayton Act will apply to all transactions that close on or after the effective date of the notice, which is 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register. The thresholds for Section 8 of the Clayton Act become effective upon publication in the Federal Register. A complete listing of current thresholds can be found on the FTC’s website, and will be updated once the revised thresholds are published in the Federal Register.

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