The Federal Trade Commission, in partnership with the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, will resume the practice of granting early termination of the HSR Act’s waiting periods when both agencies have determined that no enforcement action will be taken during the waiting period, the agency announced in a blog posted today.
On March 13, as part of the Bureau of Competition’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation, and in partnership with the Antitrust Division, the FTC 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 temporarily suspending the Bureau’s processing of requests to grant early termination of the Act’s waiting periods.
Effective March 30, 2020, grants of early termination will resume as time and resources allow, as described in the blog post.