On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package. The omnibus bill includes provisions that will soon raise existing Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) filing fees for the first time in two decades and impose new HSR disclosure requirements for “foreign subsidies” from certain “foreign entities of concern.” The legislation also exempts from transfer and consolidation into related federal court proceedings, certain civil antitrust actions brought by states.
The legislation is in keeping with the Biden Administration’s commitment to strengthening antitrust enforcement. The additional revenue from the new HSR filing fees is earmarked for the FTC and DOJ, which will allow the agencies to increase staffing and provide more resources for antitrust investigations and litigation. Antitrust cases brought by attorneys general will have the same exemption from consolidation that the DOJ currently has, which may complicate efforts to manage and defend multi-state federal litigation. And the burden of collecting and disclosing information will increase for certain HSR filings.
