On Thursday afternoon, the future of the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement authority took center stage during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing entitled, “Safeguarding American Consumers: Fighting Fraud and Scams During the Pandemic.” While the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee hearing was ostensibly focused on pandemic-related fraud, calls to clarify the agency’s ability to
Supreme Court Vacates its Prior Grant of the FTC’s Petition for Certiorari in FTC v. Credit Bureau Center, LLC: What Does it Mean for Section 13(b) and AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC?
This morning, in a brief line order, the Supreme Court vacated its prior grant of the Federal Trade Commission’s petition for certiorari in Federal Trade Commission v. Credit Bureau Center, LLC (“Credit Bureau”). Justice Barrett did not take part in the decision to vacate the grant of certiorari. None of the remaining Justices
The “Un-Sprung Bear Trap”: The Resurrection of the FTC’s Penalty Offense Authority As One Possible Solution to the 13(b) Problem
Late last week (Oct. 29), FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra (D) and his Attorney Advisor Samuel Levine released a paper entitled “The Case for Resurrecting the FTC Act’s Penalty Offense Authority.” In it, Commissioner Chopra and Mr. Levine argue that the Commission should “resurrect one of the key authorities it abandoned in the 1980s: