Rethinking Antitrust Compliance in Response to New Risks: Practical Tips and Takeaways for Companies Large and Small

Description

Labor markets have emerged as a new enforcement focus under the Biden administration. In late 2020, the DOJ issued its first criminal indictment alleging wage-fixing by competing employers. In the last year, there have been numerous labor-market prosecutions, involving both wage-fixing and "no-poach" agreements by employers.

Enforcers are also focused on detecting and prosecuting criminal antitrust violations in which the government is the victim. In November 2019, the DOJ announced the creation of a Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) to prosecute antitrust crimes involving public procurement and grant/program funding. The PCSF's investigative work has led to a series of indictments over the last year.

The panel will discuss how companies can modify and expand upon existing antitrust compliance efforts to respond to these recent enforcement trends. And the panel will discuss how companies starting from scratch can implement meaningful antitrust compliance.

The panel will also examine changes in DOJ guidance that provide benefits to companies that invest in antitrust compliance. In July 2019, the DOJ announced a new policy under which prosecutors will consider whether an organization has an "effective" antitrust compliance program when making criminal antitrust charging and sentencing decisions. According to DOJ’s policy, there are several critical elements of an "effective" antitrust compliance program that organizations should consider. They include meaningful involvement of senior leadership, tailoring compliance efforts to an organization's risk profile, regular training of employees in high-risk positions, appropriate incentives and discipline to deter violations, and routine reevaluation of antitrust risk.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the latest enforcement and policy trends and describes steps companies and their counsel can take now to establish an antitrust compliance program. Now is a good time for companies and their counsel to rethink antitrust compliance efforts in light of recent changes in enforcement and policy.