Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS: FTC releases 2016 annual highlights, (Mar 28, 2017)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen released the Commission’s 2016 Annual Highlights, reporting the agency’s efforts in protecting consumers and promoting competition over the course of the 2016 calendar year.

The Enforcement Highlights section of the report address the FTC’s success in blocking three mergers, preserving competition in the market for office supplies sold to large business customers and in two local markets for hospital services. The Commission also brought cases against companies for using unlawful means to maintain a monopoly, increasing consumer prices, and limiting access and innovation. Also, the FTC challenged reverse payment agreements between branded and generic pharmaceutical mergers after a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court in FTC v. Actavis supported the agency’s antitrust enforcement in this area.

On the consumer protection side, the report states that the FTC obtained the largest false advertising settlement in its history with Volkswagen Group of America, and secured a historic settlement with Herbalife that required the company to fundamentally restructure its business and pay $200 million to compensate consumers who lost money. The Commission continued to focus on deceptive wellness claims, payday lending schemes, and deceptive endorsements.

The Commission often provides guidance and recommendations to government bodies and lawmakers on how to incorporate competition principles into proposed laws, regulations, or policies. Much of the policy work in 2016 regarding competition advocacy comments concerned occupational licensing issues, with many focused on scope of practice and supervision regulations for health care professionals. The FTC filed eight amicus briefs on topics such as pharmaceutical markets, reverse payments, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Also, FTC Staff conducted workshops and conferences on a range of topics, including state regulation of auto sales, solar distribution generation, security for startup businesses, and a number of tech-driven workshops in its Fall Technology Series. The Commission and staff also published 19 reports on various topics, including sharing economy platforms, big data, and fraud.

In the Education Highlights section, the FTC acknowledged the work being done to help businesses understand their rights and legal responsibilities, and to inform people about ways to avoid fraud and deceptive business practices. This included blog posts on topics like merger remedies and antitrust laws in job markets, as well as scams. The FTC’s consumer education materials also focused on scams directed at military members, victims of identity theft, and imposter scams.

Privacy and data security continued to be a high priority for the agency, particularly in the mobile marketplace. This year, the Commission unveiled its free mobile-friendly financial readiness tool at Military.Consumer.gov, which helps members of the military community navigate personal financial decisions in light of the unique challenges they face, such as frequent relocations and deployment.

The Commission reported that it had obtained monetary judgments for redress and disgorgement totaling almost $12 billion, as well as civil penalties of $5.61 million. More than 5.3 million consumers received redress totaling more than $160 million.

Archives of past FTC Annual Highlights and Reports are also available online.

News: Advertising Antitrust ConsumerProtection Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews