With the US federal government now shut down until Congress passes funding legislation, federal agencies have begun furloughing employees. Those furloughs will impact the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – the federal agencies tasked with enforcing antitrust laws.
Key takeaways:
- The FTC and DOJ have announced they will continue to accept and process Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act filings during the shutdown and HSR waiting periods will continue to run, though early termination will not be granted.
- If engaged in litigation, FTC and DOJ personnel are encouraged to negotiate timing extensions, continuances and suspensions, but will continue to litigate the matter if such relief is not available.
Please see the full client alert published by Cooley’s antitrust team. To read more about how the shutdown might affect your business, see Cooley’s other blog posts published on The Governance Beat and CapitalXchange.
