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AMG Capital Decision May Mean More FTC Collaboration with State AGs, Increased Costs, Longer Timelines

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has, for decades, considered itself a partner of state AGs in combatting anticompetitive, unfair, and deceptive trade practices, and state AGs certainly feel the same way. In December 2020, 30 state AGs filed a bipartisan amici brief urging the Supreme Court to affirm the FTC’s interpretation of its Section 13(b) authority in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC (AMG Capital). In that brief, the state AGs asserted that their “own enforcement efforts are fortified by having a strong federal partner in the FTC.” The FTC and the state AGs regularly conduct joint investigations, share complaint data, and in many cases bring joint enforcement actions. But AMG Capital changed the cooperation calculus for the FTC. Read more…