FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioner William E. Kovacic to Participate in International Competition Network Conference in Istanbul, Turkey

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioner William E. Kovacic will participate in the ninth annual International Competition Network (ICN) conference in Istanbul, Turkey, from April 27-29, 2010. At the conference, senior government officials, private-sector antitrust experts, and representatives of intergovernmental organizations meet to discuss competition issues.

The ICN conference will focus on the recent accomplishments of its five main working groups, which address: unilateral conduct, mergers, cartels, competition advocacy, and agency effectiveness. Conference panels will discuss the role of outside parties in merger review, the analysis of price squeezes, trends in anti-cartel enforcement, and the interaction of competition policy with other policies. Members also will approve working group programs for the coming year.

In October 2001, the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) joined with antitrust agencies from 13 other jurisdictions around the world (Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Zambia) to create the ICN. The ICN now includes 112 member agencies from 99 jurisdictions. The goal of the ICN is to provide a forum for antitrust agencies to address enforcement and policy issues of common interest, and to propose ways that member governments could more closely align their policies and enforcement.

The following portions of this year’s conference will be open to the press:

TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 1)

8:30 A.M. (Istanbul), 1:30 A.M. (EDT) – Opening Remarks by Turkish and ICN Officials

10:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) – 2010 ICN Work Product Session
ICN working groups will present their work product from this past year, including presentations by the Agency Effectiveness Working Group, Advocacy Working Group, Cartel Working Group, Merger Working Group, and Unilateral Conduct Working Group.

11:20 A.M. (Istanbul), 4:20 A.M. (EDT) – Vice Chair Session
This session will be moderated by Philip Collins, Chairman, U.K. Office of Fair Trading; FTC Commissioner William E. Kovacic, Vice Chair for Outreach, will be a panelist.

2:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 7:00 A.M. (EDT) – Planning for the ICN’s Second Decade
John Fingleton, Chair, ICN Steering Group, and CEO of the U.K. Office of Fair Trading will moderate this session.

3:55 P.M. (Istanbul), 8:55 A.M. (EDT) – Agency Effectiveness Session
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz will participate in this Plenary Session panel on “Planning, Prioritization, Project Management and Effective Project Delivery.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 2)

9:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 2:00 A.M. (EDT) – Merger Session
Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, will moderate a panel on “The Role and Rights of Third Parties in Merger Review.”

10:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) – Unilateral Conduct Session
Andreas Mundt, President, Bundeskartellamt, will present opening remarks to the plenary session focusing on “Putting the Squeeze on Competitive Pricing? – Competition Policy Toward Margin Squeezes,” which will be moderated by Randolph W. Tritell, Director of the FTC’s Office of International Affairs.

2:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 7:00 A.M. (EDT) – Special Project: The Interface between Competition Policy and other Public Policies
This plenary session will focus on a special project undertaken by the Turkish Competition Authority to study the interface between competition policy and other public policies. Panelists will include Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic.

5:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 10:00 A.M. (EDT) – Advocacy Session
This plenary session will focus on the purposes of market studies.

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 3)

9:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 2:00 A.M. (EDT) – Cartel Session
Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division will moderate a panel discussion on “Trends in Cartel Enforcement and Policy.”

12:15 P.M. (Istanbul), 5:15 A.M. (EDT) – Report Back and Future Work

1:15 P.M. (Istanbul), 6:15 A.M. (EDT) – Closing

Complete information about the conference is available at http://www.icn-istanbul.org/. The conference will be held at the Swissotel The Bosphorus, Bayildim Cad. No. 2 Macka Besiktas 34357. Phone: +90-212-326-1100; Fax: +90-212-326-1122.

(ICN Advisory 2010.final)