Blog

The FTC's Bureau of Competition sometimes reviews proposed mergers against the backdrop of civil and criminal antitrust investigations or litigations leveled in the same industry. And at times, such investigations and litigations are leveled against the merger parties themselves. Those ongoing matters may affect our analysis of a merger, as well as the vetting of divestiture packages and proposed divestiture buyers. Even if details of such...

You may have seen reports of the fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard. Dozens of sailors fled the burning ship and lost all their possessions. When a distressing event like this happens, many folks look for ways to help. But you also want to make sure your money gets to the people you want to help. In this case, scammers are making that more difficult. Officials at Naval Base Coronado have sounded the alarm about fake crowdfunding pages...

Information Security and Financial Institutions: An FTC Workshop to Examine the Safeguards Rule – a virtual event to consider the future of the Rule – is on now. Watch from the LIVE WEBCAST link on the event page. In addition, FTC staff is tweeting from @FTC using the hashtag #SafeguardsFTC.

During Military Consumer Month, the FTC is launching a new tool to explore what problems military consumers may experience in the marketplace. For the first time, data about the FTC’s reports from military personnel will be available online in an interactive dashboard at ftc.gov/exploredata . From 2015 through June 30, 2020, military consumers made more than 680,000 reports about fraud, identity theft, or other consumer issues to the FTC. All...

In response to increased interest in levels of M&A activity, the Bureau of Competition’s Premerger Notification Office (PNO) is responding in real-time by posting monthly figures for Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act filings. Starting today, the PNO is posting monthly totals for the most recent six-month period, and will update the numbers on a six-month rolling basis on the PNO homepage. While the Commission publicly reports monthly HSR transaction...

An online company advertising consumer goods, including personal protective equipment like masks and respirators, does business under the name SuperGoodDeals.com. But based on the illegal conduct alleged in a lawsuit just filed by the FTC, maybe it’s because the URL SuperDeceptivePractices.com was already taken. New York-based SuperGoodDeals.com, Inc., and Kevin J. Lipsitz sell charger cables, clothing, health and beauty products, and other...

As we head into the second half of 2020, it’s a good time to pause and take stock of the past six months of work in the Bureau of Competition. Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bureau staff have not let up in fulfilling our mission to enforce the antitrust laws and promote competition. In fact, the Commission is on pace for one of its busiest years for merger enforcement in twenty years—including several significant matters...

Financial institutions collect personal information from customers every day, from names and addresses to bank account and Social Security numbers. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s Safeguards Rule requires those institutions to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program. As part of its regulatory review process, the FTC has proposed changes to the Rule. Join us on July 13, 2020, for Information Security and...

PrivacyCon is going virtual this year. As the just-released agenda for the fifth annual Gathering of the Gurus demonstrates, you’ll want to mark July 21, 2020, on your calendar and watch the webcast for thought-provoking research into topics related to consumer privacy and data security. FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Andrew Smith will convene PrivacyCon at 9:00 AM Eastern Time. Session #1 will explore privacy and security issues...

Online shopping has been a lifeline for many people hunkering down to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. But as online orders have increased, so too have reports to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network about sellers failing to deliver on promises — or just failing to deliver, period. During April and May of 2020, more people reported problems with online shopping than in any other months on record. More than half said they never got the items...