Antitrust & Trade Regulation Update

United States

FTC Chairman to Step Down

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman, Deborah Platt Majoras, has announced her decision to leave the FTC in late March. Majoras was appointed by President George W. Bush and served as FTC Chairman for over four and half years. Previously, she was in private practice and also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) where she was involved in the DOJ's prosecution of Microsoft. The press release announcing the Chairman's departure lauds her efforts toward, among other things, "increasing the efficiency and transparency of the merger review process, implementing sound antitrust policy regarding intellectual property, increasing efforts to prevent anticompetitive government policies, and strengthening cooperation with consumer and competition agencies around the world." It has been