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US: FTC Chairwoman sees antitrust bill as threat to authority

By  |  October 7, 2015

Edith Ramirez, Federal Trade Commission chairwoman pushed back against a Senate bill that would harmonize the US Justice Department’s and FTC’s overlapping antitrust authority this Wednesday.

The Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules Act of 2015, also known as Smarter Act was introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. It would subject the FTC to the same preliminary injunction standard in federal court as the Justice Department faces. The legislation also strips the commission of its power to administratively litigate proposed mergers that courts have refused to block.

“In my view the bill is unnecessary and would remove authority the commission has used successfully for over 100 years to promote competition and advance consumer welfare,” Ramirez told the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights.

Full content: National Law Journal

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