Ian Conner, FTC
On Monday, March 13, as part of the Bureau’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation, and in partnership with the Antitrust Division of DOJ, we announced that the Bureau’s Premerger Notification Office would adopt a temporary e-filing program for notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Among other changes, this transition involved the temporary suspension of the Bureau’s processing of requests to grant early termination of the Act’s waiting periods.
We are pleased to announce that, in light of the success of the temporary e-filing program to date, we will return to processing requests for early termination, but with some changes in our ordinary process. Effective Monday, March 30, the FTC and DOJ will resume the practice of granting early termination of the HSR Act’s waiting periods when both have determined that no enforcement action will be taken during the waiting period.
