10th Bill Kovacic Antitrust Salon

William KOVACIC | Professor, The George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C. (bio)

Avery GARDINER | Chief Counsel for competition and tech policy to Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington D.C. (bio)
William KOVACIC | Professor, The George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C. (bio)

The US antitrust agencies have promised to “re-invigorate” antitrust enforcement. Among other things, the agencies stated that they aim to adopt new merger guidelines by the end of the year, have said they are taking a more restrictive approach toward remedies, and are prepared to litigate more cases. Moreover, the growing number of merger control regimes is leading parties to transactions to operate in an increasingly complex web of notification requirements, review times and processes, and substantive review frameworks. All of this change is happening at a time of unprecedented deal volume, creating challenges for business people and directors.

Bill BAER | Visiting Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C. (bio)
Michael KADES | Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, Washington D.C. (bio)
Aviv NEVO | George A. Weiss and Lydia Bravo Weiss University Professor, Professor of Economics and Marketing, The Wharton School and Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (bio)
John NEWMAN | Deputy Director, FTC, Washington D.C. (bio)
Bernard A. NIGRO Jr. | Partner, Fried Frank, Washington D.C. (bio)

Moderator: Koren WONG-ERVIN | Partner, Axinn, Washington D.C. (bio)

In the US, the antitrust agencies are taking an aggressive position towards practices that affect labour markets, including an unfavourable view of non-solicitation and non-compete agreements. However, recent decisions in criminal wage-fixing and no-poach cases where juries have decided to acquit, have raised questions about the effectiveness of such enforcement.

Rosa ABRANTES-METZ | PhD and Principal Co-Chair, The Brattle Group, New York (bio)
Benjamin HARRIS | Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, U. S. Department of Treasury, Arlington (bio)
Anna MEYENDORFF | PhD, Partner and Co-Chair of Antitrust Practice, Bates White, Washington D.C. (bio)
Diana L. MOSS | President, American Antitrust Institute, Washington D.C. (bio)
Maureen OHLHAUSEN | Partner, Baker Botts, Washington D.C. (bio)
Andrew SCHUPANITZ | Trial Attorney for the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, San Francisco (bio)

Moderator: Alexander OKULIAR | Co-chair Global Antitrust Law, Morrison & Foerster, Washington D.C. (bio)

The Biden administration is seeking to crack down on private equity to prevent it from "rolling up" large swathes of US businesses. In this context, the DOJ and FTC want to introduce a more robust assessment of private equity transactions, with a particular focus on situations where companies are engaged in corporate roll-ups. The questions now arise as to whether more aggressive enforcement is called for and how, in practice, the antitrust agencies will implement such a robust assessment.

Laura ALEXANDER | Vice President of Policy, American Antitrust Institute, Washington D.C. (bio)
Sabrina HOWELL | Associate Professor of Finance, NYU Stern, New York (bio)
Bilal SAYYED | Senior Competition Counsel, TechFreedom, Washington D.C. (bio)

Moderator: Jack E. PACE | Partner, White & Case, New York (bio)