BMW of North America, LLC; Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment, 16011-16013 [2015-06903]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 58 / Thursday, March 26, 2015 / Notices must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than April 23, 2015. A. Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Ivan Hurwitz, Vice President) 33 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10045–0001: 1. Royal Bank of Canada, Montreal, Canada and its wholly-owned subsidiary, RBC USA Holdco, New York, New York; to acquire City National Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire City National Bank, both in Los Angeles, California. In connection with this application, RBC USA Holdco Corporation, New York, New York, has applied to become a bank holding company. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 23, 2015. Michael J. Lewandowski, Associate Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2015–06925 Filed 3–25–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Mid-Tier Bank Holding Company To Conduct a Minority Stock Issuance The bank holding company listed in this notice has applied to the Board for approval to conduct a minority stock issuance in accordance with the Board’s regulations governing mutual holding companies. The application listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, is available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The application will also be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing. Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than April 23, 2015. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Prabal Chakrabarti, Senior Vice President) 600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02210–2204: 1. Provident Bancorp and Provident Bancorp, Inc., both in Amesbury, Massachusetts; to conduct a minority stock issuance in accordance with the Board’s Regulation MM. Provident Bancorp and Provident Bancorp, Inc. control Provident Bank. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 23, 2015. Michael J. Lewandowski, Associate Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2015–06924 Filed 3–25–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:55 Mar 25, 2015 Jkt 235001 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Change in Bank Control Notices; Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or Bank Holding Company The notificants listed below have applied under the Change in Bank Control Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)) and § 225.41 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.41) to acquire shares of a bank or bank holding company. The factors that are considered in acting on the notices are set forth in paragraph 7 of the Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)(7)). The notices are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The notices also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing to the Reserve Bank indicated for that notice or to the offices of the Board of Governors. Comments must be received not later than April 13, 2015. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Dennis Denney, Assistant Vice President), 1 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, Missouri 64198–0001: 1. Scott Warren Cooper, Garnett, Kansas; to retain voting shares of Garnett Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly retain voting shares of Patriots Bank, both in Garnett, Kansas. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 23, 2015. Michael J. Lewandowski, Associate Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2015–06923 Filed 3–25–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION [File No. 132 3150] BMW of North America, LLC; Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment Federal Trade Commission. Proposed consent agreement. AGENCY: ACTION: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order—embodied in the consent agreement—that would settle these allegations. SUMMARY: Comments must be received on or before April 20, 2015. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ bmwnorthamericaconsent online or on DATES: PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 16011 paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ‘‘BMW of North America, LLC—Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150’’ on your comment and file your comment online at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ bmwnorthamericaconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ‘‘BMW of North America, LLC—Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150’’ on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC–5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Svetlana Gans, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 326–3708, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained from the FTC Home Page (for March 19, 2015), on the World Wide Web at: https://www.ftc.gov/ os/actions.shtm. You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before April 20, 2015. Write ‘‘BMW of North America, LLC—Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150’’ on your comment. Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/ publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals’ home contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web site. E:\FR\FM\26MRN1.SGM 26MRN1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 16012 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 58 / Thursday, March 26, 2015 / Notices Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive personal information, like anyone’s Social Security number, date of birth, driver’s license number or other state identification number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive health information, like medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not include any ‘‘[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential,’’ as discussed in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).1 Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your online comment, you must file it at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/bmw northamericaconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. If this Notice appears at https:// www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site. If you file your comment on paper, write ‘‘BMW of North America, LLC— Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150’’ on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC– 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 1 In particular, the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:55 Mar 25, 2015 Jkt 235001 Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service. Visit the Commission Web site at https://www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that it receives on or before April 20, 2015. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission’s privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm. Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment The Federal Trade Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) has accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement applicable to BMW of North America, LLC (‘‘respondent’’). The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the agreement and comments received, and will decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final the agreement’s proposed order. The Respondent’s MINI Division provides purchasers of new MINI passenger cars a Service and Warranty Information Statement (‘‘Warranty Statement’’). According to the FTC complaint, language in the Warranty Statement violates the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (‘‘Warranty Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 2302(c), by conditioning warranty coverage on the consumer’s use of genuine MINI parts and MINI dealers to perform maintenance and repair work. The FTC enforces the Warranty Act, which regulates consumer warranties and the procedures used to resolve warranty disputes. The broad purposes of the Warranty Act are (1) to improve the adequacy of warranty information available to consumers, and thereby facilitate consumer choice; (2) to prevent deception; and (3) to improve competition in the marketing of consumer products. Among other things, the Warranty Act prohibits a warrantor from conditioning a consumer product’s warranty on the consumer’s PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 use of an article or a service (other than an article or a service provided without charge) which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name. 15 U.S.C. 2302(c) (‘‘the anti-tying provision’’). According to the FTC complaint, in connection with the warranty for certain MINI models, respondent has required owners to have routine maintenance, such as oil changes, performed by MINI dealers and to use genuine MINI parts. The complaint alleges that this requirement appears in two places in the Warranty Statement. First, in order to have a warranty claim approved, owners must demonstrate that they obtained regular maintenance of their vehicles by having a MINI dealer place a stamp in the warranty booklet. See Complaint at ¶ 12. Second, the Warranty Statement states that it ‘‘is not obligated to pay for repairs that include non-genuine MINI parts. . . .’’ (emphasis added). Although respondent provides, with the purchase of its vehicles, a free scheduled maintenance program, many of the models have a three-year maintenance program, but a four-year new vehicle warranty. Thus, according to the complaint, there is one year during the warranty period in which consumers must pay for their maintenance and repair work while being required to use MINI dealers and MINI parts to retain warranty coverage. The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent respondent from engaging in similar acts or practices in the future. Specifically, Part I prohibits respondent, in connection with the sale of any MINI Division good or service, from violating any provision of the Warranty Act, including, but not limited to, the antitying provision. Part II prohibits respondent, in connection with the sale of any MINI good or service, from misrepresenting that vehicles, in order to operate safely or maintain value, must have maintenance work performed by a MINI dealer. Part II also prohibits respondent from misrepresenting any material fact concerning any warranty or maintenance requirements of any MINI good or service. Part III requires respondent to send notices to all affected consumers informing them that their warranties are not conditioned on repair work being performed by MINI dealers or on the use of genuine MINI parts. Parts IV through VIII of the proposed order are reporting and compliance provisions. Part IV requires respondent to maintain, and make available to the Commission upon written request, copies of Owner’s Manuals and Warranty Statements for each motor E:\FR\FM\26MRN1.SGM 26MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 58 / Thursday, March 26, 2015 / Notices vehicle sold by respondent. Part V requires dissemination of the order, now and in the future, to persons with responsibilities relating to the MINI Division and the subject matter of the order. Part VI ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status. Part VII mandates that respondent submit an initial compliance report to the FTC, and make subsequent reports available to the FTC, upon request. Part VIII is a provision ‘‘sunsetting’’ the order after twenty (20) years, within certain exceptions. The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official interpretation of the proposed order or to modify its terms in any way. By direction of the Commission. Donald S. Clark, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2015–06903 Filed 3–25–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276–1243. Project: Community Mental Health Services Block Grant and Substance Abuse and Prevention Treatment Block Grant FY 2016–2017 Plan and Report Guidance and Instructions (OMB No. 0930–0168)—Revision The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is requesting approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a revision of the 2016 and 2017 Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) Plan and Report Guidance and Instructions. Currently, the SABG and the MHBG differ on a number of their practices (e.g., data collection at individual or aggregate levels) and statutory authorities (e.g., method of calculating MOE, stakeholder input requirements VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:55 Mar 25, 2015 Jkt 235001 for planning, set asides for specific populations or programs, etc.). Historically, the Centers within SAMHSA that administer these block grants have had different approaches to application requirements and reporting. To compound this variation, states have different structures for accepting, planning, and accounting for the block grants and the prevention set aside within the SABG. As a result, how these dollars are spent and what is known about the services and clients that receive these funds varies by block grant and by state. Increasingly, under the Affordable Care Act, more individuals are eligible for Medicaid and private insurance. This expansion of health insurance coverage will continue to have a significant impact on how State Mental Health Authorities (SMHAs) and Single State Agencies (SSAs) use their limited resources. In 2009, more than 39 percent of individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI) or serious emotional disturbances (SED) were uninsured. Sixty percent of individuals with substance use disorders whose treatment and recovery support services were supported wholly or in part by SAMHSA block grant funds were also uninsured. A substantial proportion of this population, as many as six million people, will gain health insurance coverage in 2014 and will have various outpatient and other services covered through Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance. However, these plans will not provide access to the full range of support services necessary to achieve and maintain recovery for most of these individuals and their families. Given these changes, SAMHSA has conveyed that block grant funds be directed toward four purposes: (1) To fund priority treatment and support services for individuals without insurance or who cycle in and out of health insurance coverage; (2) to fund those priority treatment and support services not covered by Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance offered through the exchanges and that demonstrate success in improving outcomes and/or supporting recovery; (3) to fund universal, selective and targeted prevention activities and services; and (4) to collect performance and outcome data to determine the ongoing effectiveness of behavioral health prevention, treatment and recovery support services and to plan the implementation of new services on a nationwide basis. To help states meet the challenges of 2016 and beyond, and to foster the implementation of an integrated physical health and mental health and PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 16013 addiction service system, SAMHSA must establish standards and expectations that will lead to an improved system of care for individuals with or at risk of mental and substance use disorders. Therefore, this application package includes fully exercising SAMHSA’s existing authority regarding states’, territories’ and the Red Lake Band of the Chippewa Tribe’s (subsequently referred to as ‘‘states’’) use of block grant funds, and a shift in SAMHSA staff functions to support and provide technical assistance for states receiving block grant funds as they fully integrate behavioral health services into health care. Consistent with previous applications, the FY 2016–2017 application has sections that are required and other sections where additional information is requested. The FY 2016–2017 application requires states to submit a face sheet, a table of contents, a behavioral health assessment and plan, reports of expenditures and persons served, an executive summary, and funding agreements and certifications. In addition, SAMHSA is requesting information on key areas that are critical to the states success in addressing health care integration. Therefore, as part of this block grant planning process, SAMHSA is asking states to identify their technical assistance needs to implement the strategies they identify in their plans for FY 2016 and 2017. To facilitate an efficient application process for states in FY 2016–2017, SAMHSA convened an internal workgroup to develop the application for the block grant planning section. In addition, SAMHSA consulted with representatives from SMHAs and SSAs to receive input regarding proposed changes to the block grant. Based on these discussions with states, SAMHSA is proposing several changes to the block grant programs, discussed in greater detail below. Changes to Assessment and Planning Activities The revisions reflect changes within the planning section of the application. The most significant of these changes relate to evidenced based practice for early intervention for the MHBG, participant directed care, medication assisted treatment for the SABG, crisis services, pregnant women and women with dependent children, community living and the implementation of Olmstead, and quality and data readiness collection. The FY 2014–2015 application sections on the Affordable Care Act, health insurance marketplace, E:\FR\FM\26MRN1.SGM 26MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 58 (Thursday, March 26, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16011-16013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06903]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132 3150]


BMW of North America, LLC; Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public 
Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 20, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/bmwnorthamericaconsent online or on 
paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``BMW of North 
America, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150'' on your comment and 
file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/bmwnorthamericaconsent by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``BMW of North 
America, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150'' on your comment and 
on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, 
Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Svetlana Gans, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202) 326-3708, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for March 19, 2015), on the World Wide Web at: 
https://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before April 20, 2015. 
Write ``BMW of North America, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 
1323150'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your 
state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, 
including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web 
site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of 
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact 
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web 
site.

[[Page 16012]]

    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/bmwnorthamericaconsent by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``BMW of North America, 
LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323150'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at https://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before April 20, 2015. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement applicable to 
BMW of North America, LLC (``respondent'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final 
the agreement's proposed order.
    The Respondent's MINI Division provides purchasers of new MINI 
passenger cars a Service and Warranty Information Statement (``Warranty 
Statement''). According to the FTC complaint, language in the Warranty 
Statement violates the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (``Warranty Act''), 
15 U.S.C. 2302(c), by conditioning warranty coverage on the consumer's 
use of genuine MINI parts and MINI dealers to perform maintenance and 
repair work.
    The FTC enforces the Warranty Act, which regulates consumer 
warranties and the procedures used to resolve warranty disputes. The 
broad purposes of the Warranty Act are (1) to improve the adequacy of 
warranty information available to consumers, and thereby facilitate 
consumer choice; (2) to prevent deception; and (3) to improve 
competition in the marketing of consumer products. Among other things, 
the Warranty Act prohibits a warrantor from conditioning a consumer 
product's warranty on the consumer's use of an article or a service 
(other than an article or a service provided without charge) which is 
identified by brand, trade, or corporate name. 15 U.S.C. 2302(c) (``the 
anti-tying provision'').
    According to the FTC complaint, in connection with the warranty for 
certain MINI models, respondent has required owners to have routine 
maintenance, such as oil changes, performed by MINI dealers and to use 
genuine MINI parts. The complaint alleges that this requirement appears 
in two places in the Warranty Statement.
    First, in order to have a warranty claim approved, owners must 
demonstrate that they obtained regular maintenance of their vehicles by 
having a MINI dealer place a stamp in the warranty booklet. See 
Complaint at ] 12. Second, the Warranty Statement states that it ``is 
not obligated to pay for repairs that include non-genuine MINI parts. . 
. .'' (emphasis added). Although respondent provides, with the purchase 
of its vehicles, a free scheduled maintenance program, many of the 
models have a three-year maintenance program, but a four-year new 
vehicle warranty. Thus, according to the complaint, there is one year 
during the warranty period in which consumers must pay for their 
maintenance and repair work while being required to use MINI dealers 
and MINI parts to retain warranty coverage.
    The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent 
respondent from engaging in similar acts or practices in the future. 
Specifically, Part I prohibits respondent, in connection with the sale 
of any MINI Division good or service, from violating any provision of 
the Warranty Act, including, but not limited to, the anti-tying 
provision. Part II prohibits respondent, in connection with the sale of 
any MINI good or service, from misrepresenting that vehicles, in order 
to operate safely or maintain value, must have maintenance work 
performed by a MINI dealer. Part II also prohibits respondent from 
misrepresenting any material fact concerning any warranty or 
maintenance requirements of any MINI good or service.
    Part III requires respondent to send notices to all affected 
consumers informing them that their warranties are not conditioned on 
repair work being performed by MINI dealers or on the use of genuine 
MINI parts.
    Parts IV through VIII of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part IV requires respondent to maintain, and 
make available to the Commission upon written request, copies of 
Owner's Manuals and Warranty Statements for each motor

[[Page 16013]]

vehicle sold by respondent. Part V requires dissemination of the order, 
now and in the future, to persons with responsibilities relating to the 
MINI Division and the subject matter of the order. Part VI ensures 
notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status. Part VII 
mandates that respondent submit an initial compliance report to the 
FTC, and make subsequent reports available to the FTC, upon request. 
Part VIII is a provision ``sunsetting'' the order after twenty (20) 
years, within certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the proposed order or to modify its terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-06903 Filed 3-25-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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