Manatt Antitrust and Competition Partner Stephen Libowsky and Consumer Protection Partner Bezalel Stern were quoted in The National Law Journal on Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan’s recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee addressing the agency’s recent challenges to big-tech mergers and discussing how it reflects the agency’s “ambitious agenda” to combat fraud.
In the article, Libowsky noted that, despite the seemingly poor courtroom record, the failed blocks to vertical mergers give little insight to the merits of the FTC’s opposition. “How one measures wins and losses is always interesting in the merger control world. So looking just at the court record—while it’s certainly accurate if you’re quoting the court record, there’s a lot more to the story,” he said.
Stern commented that Khan’s testimony demonstrated the agency’s “ambitious agenda in the consumer protection space” as it works to protect consumers from fraud against the elderly, veterans and fraud involving artificial intelligence. “The FTC under Chair Khan is really focused on the future,” he said. “I mean, you see it in the endorsement guidelines, you see it in AI, and you even see [it] in … Chair Khan’s comments on the gig economy, focusing on where the commission thinks consumer protection issues are going to be.”
Read the complete article in The National Law Journal here.