New FTC Second Request Procedures

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 probably ranks as the most important piece of antitrust legislation in the last half-century. It certainly has had the most practical impact, and the most significant part of that impact has come from its premerger notification provisions. No antitrust issue has generated more debate, or created more tension between the private antitrust bar and the agencies, than the HSR merger notification procedures—particularly the right of the antitrust agencies to effectively enjoin a transaction without ever going to court, simply by issuing a "second request," the odd moniker for the information request issued by the agencies when they seek to investigate a particular transaction.