Sky Blog
Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors are empowered to resolve serious corporate criminal allegations through deferred prosecution agreements (DPA). In a new paper, I argue that DPAs should not be permitted when corporate misconduct causes people to lose their lives.
To …
Recently, the whole of the U.S. government has showcased its commitment to addressing the national security implications of certain corporate activities. On September 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) tapped its first National Security Corporate Enforcement Chief. The …
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released a draft overhaul of their merger guidelines. The merger guidelines are intended to describe how the agencies evaluate mergers and reach decisions on …
On August 24, 2023, in a highly anticipated decision, the Second Circuit in Kirschner v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. et al. affirmed dismissal of state-law securities claims because the syndicated term loan in question was not a “security” and therefore …
On August 16, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had simultaneously sued and approved a settlement (a consent order) related to the proposed acquisition of EQT Corporation by funds managed by Quantum Energy Partners (Quantum). The …
On July 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division (“NSD”), the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a Tri-Seal …
Two recent indictments highlight the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) continuing use of the traditional wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft statutes to pursue fraud involving digital assets, indicating that law enforcement will look to prevent theft and scamming regardless …
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission issued new draft Merger Guidelines on July 19 that aim to significantly increase scrutiny of merger activity. The new Merger Guidelines would replace prior pronouncements of antitrust policy from the …
In the latest setback in the Department Justice Antitrust Division’s (DOJ) attempts to prosecute “no-poach” agreements criminally, a federal judge acquitted from the bench all six defendant employees of aerospace engineering companies alleged to have allocated a labor market by …
On March 27, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (together, the “Agencies”) hosted international and state antitrust enforcers for panel discussions on current and emerging enforcement trends.Agency leaders Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”) Jonathan Kanter and …
This month brought additional guidance from DOJ, this time the much-anticipated compliance guidance on compensation structures to incentivize compliance and the use of personal devices and messaging apps to engage in business communications. The guidance was announced by the Deputy …
On March 2 and 3, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite gave speeches announcing new and amended Department of Justice policies and guidance for prosecuting corporate crime. Both sets of remarks—which built on earlier …
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Consensus opinion coming into 2022 was that high M&A volume would continue, albeit not quite at the record-setting pace of 2021. The market had other plans. Volume decreased much more sharply from the 2021 high than was commonly expected. While …
2022 was an active year for the U.S. federal antitrust enforcement agencies. There were important developments in all key areas of the agencies’ remit, from merger enforcement to civil conduct cases to criminal prosecutions. 2023 may prove to be one …
On December 29, 2022, the Second Circuit issued its highly anticipated opinion on remand in United States v. Blaszczak (“Blaszczak II”), reconsidering the case following the Supreme Court’s January 2021 vacatur of the Second Circuit’s original decision upholding …
The U.S. is the largest market for merger and acquisition (“M&A”) activity, with nearly 7,900 transactions accounting for a record $2.6 trillion in value in 2021.[1] The primary M&A enforcement agencies in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) …
In April 2022, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) previewed the DOJ’s intent to more aggressively enforce the prohibition on interlocking directorates under Section 8 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 19. …
Last month, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced its first criminal attempted monopolization charges in more than 40 years. In the case, U.S. v. Zito, Nathan Nephi Zito, the owner of a Montana paving company, pleaded guilty to …