Insights

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

Brussels – May 22, 2024: Senior antitrust regulators from the European Commission, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority, and the U.S. Department of Justice will join industry and academic leaders for in-depth discussions at the Crowell & Moring and King's College London Sixth Annual EU Competition Law Conference on June 11 at TheMerode in Brussels.

On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, Crowell & Moring (Crowell) and King's College London co-hosted their 6thannual Competition Law Conference at TheMerode in Brussels. The event featured a keynote address by David Lawrence, Policy Director at the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), and four panels of experts discussing the latest developments in competition law in the EU, UK and US. Key topics included the impact of AI and digital innovation, no-poach and non-compete provisions in the employment context, state aid and the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, and developments in merger enforcement. Distinguished speakers from the EU, UK and US, representing diverse perspectives from regulatory authorities, academia, and industry, shared their insights on these pressing issues.

In the latest sign that federal enforcers remain focused on increasing antitrust enforcement, last Thursday, the Justice Department (DOJ), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed an online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, to encourage the public to submit reports on potential anticompetitive and monopolistic conduct in the healthcare sector.  The initiative seeks to address concerns that such behavior may affect healthcare affordability and quality, and employee wages. 

The Federal Trade Commission announced its annual updates to the thresholds and filing fees related to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act) on Monday. These dollar thresholds are indexed annually based on changes in the U.S. gross national product and the Consumer Price Index.

DOJ’s recent announcement of its establishment of a Procurement Collusion Strike Force elevates the risk of antitrust enforcement for government contractors large and small. The Strike Force will train the acquisition workforce at the federal, state, and local levels to identify and refer suspected bidding misconduct for investigation and potential prosecution.

What factors have led antitrust enforcers and legislators to express concerns about the state of merger enforcement, particularly in digital markets? Are the horizontal and vertical merger guidelines equipped to handle antitrust issues in today’s economy? How have prior transactions by the big tech companies ignited the next wave of potential merger guidelines revisions, and which specific concerns are likely to be addressed? And what should companies across all industries expect if and when the merger guidelines are updated?