Tagged: Antitrust Division

2 Feb, 2023

Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division Sues Google (Again) for Monopolization of the Digital Advertising Market

In a significant action, DOJ’s Antitrust Division filed a complex complaint against Google charging it with a long-time scheme over 15 years to monopolize the digital advertising market. DOJ was joined by Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia. DOJ filed a separate antitrust case in 2020 against Google for monopolizing search and search advertising, which are...

General

13 Nov, 2022

Antitrust Division Secures First Criminal Attempted Monopolization Guilty Plea in Decades

In yet another indication of the renewed, aggressive antitrust enforcement program, the Justice Department recently announced the first attempted criminal monopolization case in decades — Nathan Nephi Zito, the president of a paving and asphalt company in Billings, Montana, pleaded guilty to attempting to monopolize the market for highway crack-sealing services in Montana and Wyoming. In a famous civil prosecution in the 1980s, Robert L....

General

8 Aug, 2022

DOJ’s Antitrust Division Begins Trials to Block Two Large Mergers

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division continues to push its aggressive civil and criminal agenda. While the Division has lost several high-profile criminal cases in the chicken processing industry and the labor market, the Antitrust Division just recently started civil trials seeking to block two proposed mergers or acquisitions. The first case involves United Health Group’s proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare, a provider of health insurance...

Podcasts

10 Apr, 2022

Episode 230 — Catching Up with DOJ’s Antitrust Division Enforcement Efforts

The Antitrust Division’s Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter promised a new era in antitrust enforcement. He won bi-partisan support from both Republicans and Democrats. Across the antitrust field, he promised aggressive merger enforcement, civil enforcement against digital markets, and constraint of market power in numerous industries. AAG Kanter promised a new approach and he is delivering. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Antitrust Division’s...

General

7 Aug, 2019

Antitrust Division Launches Broad Investigation of High-Tech Industry

When it comes to the Justice Department and reading the tea leaves, I often rely on a very obvious point – DOJ tells you in advance what it is planning and then executes its plan. This has been true in the FCPA arena, prosecution of the opioid cases, targeting health care fraud and a history of initiatives. DOJ is fairly transparent on its priorities. Recently,...

General

31 Oct, 2018

Japanese Electrolytic Capacitor Manufacturer Sentenced to Pay $60 Million for Criminal Price-Fixing

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division had a slow year in criminal antitrust cases. There are a number of explanations for the slowdown in criminal cases – the most persuasive is that such a slowdown is part of normal case processing ups and downs, especially as several significant investigations (e.g. auto parts suppliers) are coming to a close. One criminal antitrust investigation is picking up speed...

General

2 Aug, 2016

The Often Ignored Importance of Antitrust Compliance (Part I of II)

If you ask any Chief Compliance Officer whether their compliance program includes antitrust laws, they will respond quickly and tell you – “Of course we do.” If you follow up you initial question and ask how do you ensure compliance you will hear a single response – “We conduct training.” When you scratch the surface on antitrust compliance at major companies, you will usually hear...

General

15 Sep, 2015

Antitrust Division Announces First Guilty Plea in Capacitor Cartel Investigation

The Department of Justice’s far-reaching criminal investigation into the alleged electronic capacitor cartel has borne fruit – NEC Tokin Corporation agreed to plead guilty and pay a $13.8 million criminal fine for conspiring with competitors between 2002 and 2013. NEC Tokin’s plea is the first criminal plea in this investigation, and the electronics manufacturing company also agreed to cooperate in the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation....