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The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it is issuing a second Federal Register Notice for its proposal to study the effectiveness of the Commission’s orders in merger cases where it required a divestiture or other remedy and is seeking clearance from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct the study. The second FRN also calls for additional public comments as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The FTC’s proposed new study, which will update and expand on a study the Commission issued in 1999, will focus on merger orders the Commission issued between 2006 and 2012. It will evaluate merger orders that required divestiture, as well as those that instead required non-structural relief to remedy anticompetitive effects. Overall, the FTC proposes to review 90 orders.  The FTC received and responded to four public comments about the proposed study submitted in response to the first Federal Register Notice.

The Commission vote to approve the second Federal Register Notice was 5-0. The FTC will publish the notice in the Federal Register shortly. Public comments on the proposal can be submitted electronically, and will be accepted until 30 days after the notice is published. Written comments should be sent to:  FTC Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20580. (FTC File No. P143100; the staff contacts are Dan Ducore, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2526, and Tim Deyak, Bureau of Economics, 202-326-3742)

The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with the Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission take law enforcement action. To inform the Bureau about particular business practices, call 202-326-3300, send an e-mail to antitrust{at}ftc{dot}gov, or write to the Office of Policy and Coordination, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room CC-5422, Washington, DC 20580. To learn more about the Bureau of Competition, read Competition Counts. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.