Federal Trade Commission March 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FTC plans to ask the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') to extend for an additional three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for information collection requirements contained in the Mail, internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (MITOR). That clearance expires on May 31, 2019.

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is requesting public comment on its Trade Regulation Rule entitled ``Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising'' (``Franchise Rule'' or ``Rule''). The Rule makes it an unfair or deceptive act or practice for franchisors to fail to give prospective franchisees a Franchise Disclosure Document providing specified information about the franchisor, the franchise business, and the terms of the franchise agreement. The Rule also prohibits related misrepresentations by franchise sellers. The Commission is soliciting comments about the efficiency, costs, benefits, and regulatory impact of the Rule as part of its systematic review of all current Commission regulations and guides. All interested persons are hereby given notice of the opportunity to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the Rule.

The Federal Trade Commission announces the revised thresholds for interlocking directorates required by the 1990 amendment of Section 8 of the Clayton Act. Section 8 prohibits, with certain exceptions, one person from serving as a director or officer of two competing corporations if two thresholds are met. Competitor corporations are covered by Section 8 if each one has capital, surplus, and undivided profits aggregating more than $10,000,000, with the exception that no corporation is covered if the competitive sales of either corporation are less than $1,000,000. Section 8(a)(5) requires the Federal Trade Commission to revise those thresholds annually, based on the change in gross national product. The new thresholds, which take effect immediately, are $36,564,000 for Section 8(a)(1), and $3,656,400 for Section 8(a)(2)(A).