Washington — The Federal Trade Commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday and is expected to vote to rescind the “Policy Statement on Prior Approval and Prior Notice Provisions in Merger Cases.”
This comes weeks after the FTC approved a dramatic change to the bipartisan section 5 of the FTC Act policy framework that guided some of the FTC’s enforcement decisions. Democratic Commissioners voted to rescind the bipartisan agreement known as the “Statement of Enforcement Principles Regarding ‘Unfair Methods of Competition’ Under Section 5 of the FTC Act.”
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has a nearly 50 year history of advocating for competition in the tech industry and submitted comments to the FTC on this ahead of its meeting. The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“The FTC’s merger review role should continue focusing on transactions that risk harming consumers, and using agency resources efficiently, without imposing unnecessary regulatory burdens on businesses. The current guidelines, promoted by former Democratic antitrust leader Chairman Pitofsky, were established to focus the FTC’s scrutiny on mergers that risked harm to consumers.”