| Tate Weston
Mergers, Section 7 of the Clayton Act, Remedies, FTC, International
On September 30, 2026, the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) and the Competition Law Center at the George Washington University Law School co-hosted 50 Years of HSR: The Past and Future of Premerger Notification. Held on the fiftieth anniversary of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”), this conference brought together architects of the HSR Act, former agency officials, practitioners, and international competition experts to assess the past and future of premerger review.
All agreed that the HSR Act’s introduction of premerger notification and review was revolutionary and largely a success. However, the program also examined persistent challenges with the current system. These challenges include the second request process, interagency clearance, upfront disclosure requirements, rapidly changing digital markets, and procedural divergence among the growing number of jurisdictions reviewing global transactions. Drawing on five decades of experience with HSR and newer approaches abroad, participants considered a range of potential reforms. Some reforms that were discussed involved more targeted initial disclosures, genuine pre-filing consultation, more effective review of second requests, greater transparency in agency decision-making, and greater international standardization of merger-notification requirements.
Read the full report: 50 Years of HSR: The Past and Future of Premerger Notification: Rapporteur’s Report
