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September 16, 2024 In April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rule prohibiting most employers from entering into or enforcing non-compete agreements with workers, subject to exceptions for [...]

August 16, 2024 On August 5, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that Google unlawfully monopolizes the markets for general search services and general search [...]

May 3, 2024 On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted a final rule prohibiting most employers from entering into or enforcing non-compete agreements with workers, subject to [...]

April 23, 2024 On March 21, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ), together with 15 states and the District of Columbia, filed a complaint in federal district court accusing Apple [...]

March 28, 2024 In December 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized the 2023 Merger Guidelines (the Guidelines), which outline the agencies' analytical approach to [...]

April 27, 2023 On January 24, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and several state attorneys general filed a civil antitrust suit against Google in the U.S. District Court for [...]

April 7, 2023 On March 10, 2023, a California banking regulator closed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), making it the second-largest bank by assets to fail in U.S. history. At the [...]

Updated April 6, 2023 The federal government supports scientific and technological advancement directly by funding and performing research and development and indirectly by creating and maintaining policies that encourage private [...]

Updated November 21, 2023 Contents Antitrust Law: The Basics Restraints of Trade Monopolization Monopoly Power Exclusionary Conduct Mergers & Acquisitions Theoretical Approaches to Antitrust The Big Tech Firms: A Summary [...]

Updated May 18, 2023 Contents General Preemption Principles The Primacy of Congressional Intent The Presumption Against Preemption Language Commonly Used in Express Preemption Clauses 'Related to' Employee Retirement Income Security [...]

May 9, 2023 On April 24, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision holding that Apple does not violate federal antitrust law [...]

Updated March 9, 2023 Capital markets are part of the financial system where entities raise funding from investors by dealing in stocks, bonds, digital asset securities, and other investments. As [...]

Updated January 31, 2023 Contents Conceptions of Federalism Limitations on Congress's Enumerated Powers Spending Clause Clear Notice Relatedness Independent Constitutional Bar The 'Anti-Coercion' Doctrine Commerce Clause Regulating the Channels of [...]

January 23, 2023 On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a rule that would ban non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The proposal relies on the FTC's putative [...]

Updated January 11, 2023 On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a rule that would prohibit noncompete clauses in employment contracts. The proposal relies on the FTC's [...]

Updated December 2, 2022 Contents Covered Platforms Unlawful Conduct Sections 3(a)(l)-(3): Self-Preferencing, Limitations on Business Users, and Discrimination That Would 'Materially Harm Competition' Self-Preferencing Material Harm to Competition Content Moderation [...]

In June 2022, Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced S. 4356, the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA). The Insight provides an overview of the bill, including its implications [...]

June 9, 2022 As discussed in the first part of this two-part Legal Sidebar series, stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to a reference asset like the U.S. dollar. [...]

June 9, 2022 In 2008, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto released a white paper describing a peer-to-peer system of electronic cash. The product of that paper--Bitcoin--now boasts a market capitalization of [...]

April 6, 2022 The typical antitrust case involves sellers in a product market. For example, rival manufacturers might conspire to fix the price of memory chips. A tobacco giant may [...]

November 9, 2021 Insider-trading law has been shaped by competing institutional forces and theoretical perspectives. While the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and federal prosecutors have pushed for broad theories [...]

August 13, 2021 Over the past decade, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple have revolutionized the digital economy. Many people now use the products and services of these 'Big Tech' firms [...]

August 12, 2021 In the 1960s, small apparel retailers had a problem. Apparel suppliers were granting more generous advertising allowances to large retailers, inhibiting small retailers' ability to compete. This [...]

February 16, 2021 In December 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a group of 46 state attorneys general (state AGs) filed separate antitrust lawsuits against Facebook. Both lawsuits challenge [...]

October 23, 2020 On October 20, 2020, the Department of Justice and eleven Republican state attorneys general (hereinafter 'DOJ') filed a long-anticipated antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the tech [...]

September 21, 2020 Tensions between the United States and China have again moved to center stage. In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has ordered China to close its Houston consulate [...]

July 21, 2020 On June 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized new Vertical Merger Guidelines (VMG) outlining their approach to mergers and acquisitions between [...]

July 9, 2020 On May 29, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized a rule concerning federal banking regulation and state usury law that has pitted the [...]

Updated July 14, 2020 Contents The National Emergencies Act Methodology Limitations The Stafford Act Methodology Limitations Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act Methodology Limitations Tables Table 1. Statutory [...]

May 15, 2020 To contain the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), roughly 20 states and the District of Columbia continue to operate under so-called 'stay-at-home' orders closing nonessential [...]

May 18, 2020 Although the COVID-19 coronavirus has shuttered wide swaths of the U.S. economy, it has also spurred a flurry of activity by some of the country's largest firms. [...]

Updated March 27, 2020 The COVID-19 coronavirus has upended financial markets and the real economy. As the virus has spread, businesses across the country have closed their doors, major stock [...]

February 5, 2020 Securities Act of 1933 The Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) governs the process by which companies issue securities. The Act prohibits any person from offering or [...]

September 11, 2019 Contents Legal Background General Principles Section 2 of the Sherman Act: Monopolization Monopoly Power Exclusionary Conduct Section 7 of the Clayton Act: Mergers and Acquisitions Antitrust and [...]

April 24, 2019 The Supreme Court recently held in Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission that persons who knowingly disseminate false statements to investors violate the 'scheme liability' provisions of [...]

February 27, 2019 In 2018, U.S. corporations announced plans to buyback a record $1.08 trillion of their own stock--a trend that has attracted scrutiny and generated a number of legislative [...]

The article focuses on capital markets are part of the financial system where entities raise funding from investors by dealing in stocks, bonds, digital asset securities, and other investments. It mentions Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the primary regulator overseeing capital markets. It also mentions companies have raised more funds through private securities offerings than through public offerings such as initial public offerings (IPOs).

The article provides an overview of antitrust doctrine and selected antitrust legislation pending before the U.S. Congress. It discusses the goals of antitrust laws and outlines provisions of federal antitrust statutes, including the Sherman Act, which prohibits contracts in restraint of trade and anti-competitive conduct or monopolization, and the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers and acquisitions that tend to create monopoly.

November 30, 2018 On December 3, 2018, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a case involving the scope of anti-fraud liability under [...]

September 27, 2018 Contents General Principles Internal Federalism Limitations on Congress's Powers Spending Clause Commerce Clause Regulating the Channels of Interstate Commerce Protecting the Instrumentalities, Persons, or Things in Interstate [...]

Updated August 31, 2018 Contents The Securities Act and the Exchange Act The Howey Test Investment of Money Case Law Application to ICOs Common Enterprise Case Law Application to ICOs [...]

May 16, 2018 The Supreme Court recently held in Murphy v. NCAA that a federal law prohibiting states from 'authorizing' sports gambling unconstitutionally 'commandeered' the authority of state legislatures. In [...]

Updated January 23, 2018 Contents Background The Doctrine of Preemption The Dual Banking System Laws Governing National Banks Laws Governing State Banks The Convergence of State and Federal Regulation Branch [...]

Updated January 12, 2018 Contents Background BSA Enforcement Trends Increases in Penalty Frequency and Size Emphasis on Acceptance of Responsibility Increased Risk of Individual Liability Contacts Author Information Background The [...]

December 1, 2017 On November 17, the Treasury Department issued a report recommending a number of changes to the Financial Stability Oversight Council's (FSOC's) process for designating non-bank financial companies [...]

Updated October 17, 2017 UPDATE: On October 17, the Court granted a joint motion of the parties to remove the case from its argument calendar in light of the parties [...]