DOJ Focusing Antitrust Scrutiny On The Boardroom: Is Your Board Ready?

In April 2022, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, head of the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, fired a warning shot to companies: "For too long, our Section 8 enforcement has essentially been limited to our merger review process. We are ramping up efforts to identify violations across the broader economy, and we will not hesitate to bring Section 8 cases to break up interlocking directorates."

In September 2022, the Antitrust Division issued a spate of letters to public companies and private equity investors alleging that the companies' board composition violated Section 8. On October 19, 2022, the DOJ announced that seven directors had resigned from five corporate boards in response to concerns raised by the Antitrust Division.