New Administration Likely To Tighten Antitrust Enforcement
January 27, 2009
A new administration in Washington portends many things. And one of them is the way that the administration enforces existing laws.
One area widely expected to see more vigorous enforcement is antitrust, both in the areas of criminal enforcement and in review of mergers and acquisitions. During the presidential campaign, President Obama was one of the few candidates to even address the subject. “As president, I will direct my administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. I will step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare, while quickly clearing those that do not,” President Obama responded during the campaign in a questionnaire from the American Antitrust Institute.
With criminal penalties of up to $100 million for companies and $1 million in fines and ten years in prison for individuals, businesses are well advised to do everything they can to make sure their employees do not violate U.S. antitrust laws. While international conspiracies such as the recent reported cases involving LCD display gather headlines, smaller businesses are not immune from government scrutiny. For example, last year, the Department of Justice issued indictments charging price fixing of retail gasoline and diesel fuel in Antlers, Oklahoma, and, in a separate matter, for rigging bids and allocating customers for contracts to supply and install doors and hardware for construction projects in the El Paso, Texas area. And, any transaction with a competitor, including a merger or acquisition, can have serious implications under antitrust laws and should be reviewed by legal counsel. Even those transactions that are not large enough to require government review in advance may be challenged after the fact, as both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have recently done in unrelated matters.
Taft has an experienced group of antitrust practitioners available to advise clients on complying with both federal and state antitrust laws. For more information, or to arrange an antitrust compliance presentation for your business, contact Gayle Reindl at (317) 713-3605 or reindl@taftlaw.com, Jack Donson at (513) 357-9343 or donson@taftlaw.com, or Dan Warncke at (513) 357-9397 or warncke@taftlaw.com.
One area widely expected to see more vigorous enforcement is antitrust, both in the areas of criminal enforcement and in review of mergers and acquisitions. During the presidential campaign, President Obama was one of the few candidates to even address the subject. “As president, I will direct my administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. I will step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare, while quickly clearing those that do not,” President Obama responded during the campaign in a questionnaire from the American Antitrust Institute.
With criminal penalties of up to $100 million for companies and $1 million in fines and ten years in prison for individuals, businesses are well advised to do everything they can to make sure their employees do not violate U.S. antitrust laws. While international conspiracies such as the recent reported cases involving LCD display gather headlines, smaller businesses are not immune from government scrutiny. For example, last year, the Department of Justice issued indictments charging price fixing of retail gasoline and diesel fuel in Antlers, Oklahoma, and, in a separate matter, for rigging bids and allocating customers for contracts to supply and install doors and hardware for construction projects in the El Paso, Texas area. And, any transaction with a competitor, including a merger or acquisition, can have serious implications under antitrust laws and should be reviewed by legal counsel. Even those transactions that are not large enough to require government review in advance may be challenged after the fact, as both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have recently done in unrelated matters.
Taft has an experienced group of antitrust practitioners available to advise clients on complying with both federal and state antitrust laws. For more information, or to arrange an antitrust compliance presentation for your business, contact Gayle Reindl at (317) 713-3605 or reindl@taftlaw.com, Jack Donson at (513) 357-9343 or donson@taftlaw.com, or Dan Warncke at (513) 357-9397 or warncke@taftlaw.com.
