FTC Intends To Expand Scope of Section 5 of the FTC Act

On November 22, 2022, Cravath prepared a memo for its clients entitled “FTC Intends To Expand Scope of Section 5 of the FTC Act,” which examines the Federal Trade Commission’s new Policy Statement Regarding the Scope of Unfair Methods of Competition Under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The memo outlines two key takeaways from the Policy Statement, which include this being a signal from the Commission that it will prosecute antitrust matters under Section 5 that may not violate the Sherman or Clayton Acts; and its notice that the FTC will abandon the “rule of reason” analysis for Section 5 cases and adopt a new two-part “sliding scale” approach focused on “stopping unfair methods of competition in their incipiency based on their tendency to harm competitive conditions.”

Please click here to read the memo.