antitrust laws News

Jury Finds Realtors Liable for Inflating Commissions, Awards $1.78B Damages

A U.S. jury on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors and some residential brokerages, including units of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway liable to pay $1.78 billion in damages for conspiring to artificially inflate commissions for home sales. The verdict …

Insurers Latest Target of U.S. AGs ESG Antitrust Concerns

Insurers and reinsurers who are members of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), received a letter from 23 attorneys general raising potential legal concerns that might arise from their commitment to collaborate with other insurers to advance an “activist climate agenda.” …

Meta Battles FTC Over Future of Virtual Reality

The Biden administration on Thursday accused Meta Platforms Inc. of trying to buy its way to dominance in the metaverse, kicking off a high-profile trial to try to prevent the Facebook parent from buying virtual reality app developer Within Inc. …

Albertsons, Kroger CEOs to Defend $25B Merger to Skeptical U.S. Senators

Top executives at Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies Inc. are expected to face tough questions on Tuesday from lawmakers who worry the grocers’ planned $25 billion merger will push up food prices at a time when inflation is a concern. …

FTC Aims to Clamp Down on Companies Engaged in Unfair Competition

The US Federal Trade Commission plans to make wider use of its 1914 founding statute to police anticompetitive behavior by companies in the internet age. The Democratic-led commission on Thursday issued a new policy statement that empowers the agency to …

DOJ Antitrust Losses in Court Are Seen as Setback for Biden’s Merger Crackdown

In the span of just a month, federal judges rejected the US Justice Department’s attempts to block three mergers in the health technology, agriculture and defense contracting industries. The agency is considering appeals – and points out it’s racked up …

Net-Zero Insurers’ Climate-Friendly Plans to Exit Coal Impeded by Antitrust Laws

A group of the world’s biggest insurers and reinsurers jointly pledging to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from their underwriting activities have run into an unexpected opponent of their planet-friendly mission: competition law. The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, which counts AXA SA, …

Italy Probes Alleged Cartel Among Auto Insurers, Including Allianz Direct, Zurich

MILAN – Italy’s antitrust watchdog said on Friday it had opened an investigation into an alleged cartel among insurance companies and insurance price comparison companies to limit competition for automobile insurance. In a statement, the Italian Competition Authority said the …

Key Lawmaker Eyes Ban on Mergers to Protect Small Firms During Coronavirus Crisis

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel on Thursday called for a moratorium on mergers in the next coronavirus stimulus package and a ban on deals that are not directly related to companies about to fail. Democratic U.S. …

South Dakota Firm Barred From Insurance Price-Negotiating

A company run by a South Dakota state lawmaker that negotiates contracts between chiropractors and insurance companies has agreed to discontinue that portion of its business after federal regulators said it violated antitrust rules. The Justice Department accused Chiropractic Associates …