Dechert Provides Comments to the U.S. Antitrust Agencies on Proposed Changes to Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Filings
September 25, 2023
Dechert’s antitrust group submitted comments today to U.S. antitrust agencies on their proposed top-to-bottom overhaul of premerger antitrust filings made under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seek to alter the HSR filing requirements to capture mountains of additional information that allegedly will enable the agencies to better evaluate the competitive impact of potential mergers. But several of these proposals exceed the agencies’ authority or lack a sufficient basis under the HSR Act. The expanded document requirements are excessive and vague. And the new disclosure requirements would chill private capital markets, harming American businesses, workers, and consumers.
Based on Dechert’s deep expertise with respect to HSR compliance and the merger review process, we believe that the proposed HSR changes can be more sensibly tailored to address the agencies’ concerns without imposing unreasonable burdens on companies that will have detrimental impacts on the U.S. economy.
Related Professionals
