Within the first half of 2023, antitrust enforcers remained remarkably busy each in the US (US) and throughout the European Union (EU). The US Division of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Antitrust Division (Division) and the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) have continued their aggressive and novel effort to tug antitrust enforcement into the labor markets. The DOJ Procurement Collusion Strike Power (PCSF) has pursued its crackdown on antitrust and fraud involving authorities procurement with numerous latest instances. And DOJ has pushed the boundaries underneath Part 2 of the Sherman Act—each by revitalizing the prison provisions of the legislation and by pursuing “makes an attempt” to monopolize criminally. The European Union has additionally saved the stress on these doing enterprise abroad, imposing important fines in latest issues and upgrading its on-line leniency program to make it simpler for firms to report wrongdoing.
On this installment of Cartel Nook, we look at this continued aggressiveness towards antitrust enforcement. Whereas these authorities enforcement efforts haven’t at all times been profitable, they’ve nonetheless reframed the panorama for a lot of firms and people. What was as soon as regarded as a civil antitrust violation at worst—or no violation in any respect—is now usually pursued criminally. And antitrust enforcers are talking in additional strident tones as they try to remake, in sure methods, the best way firms do enterprise in the US and overseas.
Whether or not antitrust enforcers are finally profitable stays to be seen. Nonetheless, the pattern is actual, and it’s one that each one firms must be ready to handle within the weeks and months to come back.
