FTC Announces Major Changes To Disclosure Requirements For Hart-Scott-Rodino Notification Rules And Form

Companies should begin regularly collecting required data—in particular revenues by North American Industry Classification System code and information about "associates"—in advance of need to file Hart-Scott-Rodino notification.

On July 7, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced final changes to the rules and notification form parties to certain transactions must submit under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. The HSR Act requires parties to notify the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) of proposed transactions that meet the act's jurisdictional thresholds and to observe a statutory waiting period while the agencies review the competitive impact of the transaction. The FTC proposed changes to the HSR rules on August 13, 2010, and solicited public comments, some of which the FTC addressed in its final rules. (For more information on the previously proposed changes, see McDermott's On the Subject " FTC