Global antitrust enforcement: The authorities’ reach is extended by US model confidentiality waiver

In response to the steady expansion of worldwide antitrust investigations on "civil" (i.e., non-criminal) matters – whether in the context of merger control or of investigations into cartels and anti-competitive activities – the two principal US antitrust enforcement agencies, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), have recently signalled an increased willingness to disclose confidential information across borders to other antitrust and competition authorities in the world.

To facilitate more open information sharing with antitrust and competition authorities in other countries, in September 2013 the FTC and the DOJ jointly released a revised "model confidentiality waiver" for use in merger and non-merger civil antitrust investigations that involve concurrent review by US antitrust enforcers and non-US competition authorities. Accompanying guidance was also released.