FTC and Justice Dept. (DoJ) currently have no merger ‘clearance’ ...

FTC and Justice Dept. (DoJ) currently have no merger “clearance” requests pending, which might be first time since Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) was enacted more than 25 years ago, FTC Chmn. Timothy Muris told American Bar Assn. (ABA) Antitrust Section Fri. in Washington. Muris made comment when asked about progress of controversial clearance review agreement with DoJ, which assigns each agency certain industries for premerger review. Agreement has drawn ire of Senate Commerce Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.), who expressed concerns about DoJ’s being given all media review authority in agreement. Muris and DoJ Antitrust Chief Charles James said agreement was needed to improve efficiency between agencies, which used to compete with each other for right to review certain mergers. HSR created review process. Muris read e-mail he received Thurs. from FTC clearance officer Robert Jones that said no clearance requests were pending. “None, nada, zip. World peace will undoubtedly follow,” Muris said, reading from Jones’ e-mail. Complaints by other FTC commissioners that they weren’t allowed to comment on agreement were “not necessarily correct,” Muris said. James and Muris also said antitrust sections of each agency were enjoying unique level of collaboration. Agencies are likely to begin reviewing and exchanging “best practices,” both Muris and Jones said.