The US Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice announced proposed changes to the rules governing Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings that, if implemented, would significantly increase the number of transactions that must be reported to the antitrust agencies – primarily by private equity, venture capital and other investment funds – as well as greatly expand the amount of information included in those filings.
The HSR Act requires parties to transactions that meet specified thresholds and do not fall within an exemption to report them to the antitrust agencies and observe a waiting period before consummating reported transactions. The HSR Act allows the agencies to investigate whether such proposed acquisitions are likely to lessen competition and to challenge them under antitrust law before they are consummated.
