On Wednesday, FTC staff will report their findings on commercial deals made by internet platforms such as Facebook (FB.O) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google that were sometimes too small to trigger antitrust scrutiny.
After progressive Lina Khan took over as chair in June, the agency began hosting open sessions to hear about Big Tech acquisitions made between 2010 and 2019. The agency obtained data from Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Apple (AAPL.O), and Microsoft in addition to Facebook and Google (MSFT.O).
The five commissioners are also anticipated to vote to repeal rules enacted during the Trump administration governing vertical mergers, in which a corporation joins forces with one of its suppliers. The new rules are expected to be more stringent.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seldom seeks to halt vertical mergers, but it did so recently when it requested a judge to halt Illumina’s (ILMN.O) acquisition of Grail (GRAL.O), a former subsidiary. The businesses want to sell a blood test that can diagnose dozens of cancer.
In February 2020, the agency filed requests for information to five major tech companies, including Microsoft, saying it wanted to see if any of the smaller agreements had harmed competition.
The commission’s three Democrats and two Republicans will also decide on whether to establish a policy statement on health app privacy breaches and a framework for receiving public input on proposed restrictions.
