Amendments to the HSR Act

On January 29, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (the "FTC") formally adopted amendments to the rules and regulations under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the "HSR Act"). These amendments modify the existing requirements for advance notification of certain mergers and acquisitions to the Justice Department and the FTC, which are designed to allow those agencies to conduct any antitrust investigation of the transaction that those agencies consider warranted.

Under these most recent amendments, the "size-of-person" and "size-of-transaction" thresholds, and filing fee tiers, have been raised, consistent with changes in Gross National Product during the previous fiscal year. Specifically, after giving effect to the new amendments, and subject to certain exceptions, a filing under the HSR Act is required if (i) during the past year, one party to the acquisition or