The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

NRF Urges FTC to Probe Credit Card Body on Antitrust Concerns.  The National Retail Federation is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate an organization founded by credit card companies to set data security standards, saying the group’s practices raise antitrust concerns.  The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council “fails to meet any of the principles adopted by the federal government for voluntary standard-setting organizations,” NRF General Counsel Mallory Duncan wrote to the FTC.  The NRF claims that the card companies use their market power to “unfairly leverage their brands and proprietary technology through webs of closely controlled interdependent bodies and compliance regimes” including the council.

Merger Crackdown Part of ‘Mixed’ Obama Antitrust Record.  Although U.S. antitrust enforcement has picked up under President Barack Obama, his overall record on the issue still falls short of what some were expecting based on his campaign promises and sharp criticism of the George W. Bush administration.  The U.S. Department of Justice challenged an average of about 17 mergers annually during the first six years of the Obama presidency, an increase of about 18 percent over Bush administration levels, according to a Bloomberg BNA analysis of DOJ data.  But some competition advocates believe President Obama’s antitrust record is mixed, and not too far from his predecessor’s in some ways.

EU Regulators to Rule on Mylan’s $7.2 Billion Meda Bid by July 6.  European Union antitrust regulators will rule by July 6 whether to allow U.S. generic drugmaker Mylan NV to buy Swedish peer Meda or open a full-scale investigation.  Mylan, which is making its third takeover attempt, sought EU approval on June 1, according to a filing on the European Commission website on Thursday.  If the Commission expresses competition concerns, the company has the option of offering concessions.

AB InBev-SABMiller Deal Set to Gain U.S. Approval – Bloomberg.  The U.S. Justice Department is set to approve Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s takeover of SABMiller Plc later this month, in an agreement that may include measures to keep the merged entity from edging craft brewers out of the market, Bloomberg has reported, citing sources.  Clearance for the $100 billion-plus acquisition could include limits on the combined company’s ownership of distributors.