Appendix 18. Issuance of Public Statements Upon Closing of Investigations

• Pages: 449-450

449

APPENDIX 18

ISSUANCE OF PUBLIC STATEMENTS UPON

CLOSING OF INVESTIGATIONS

The Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice, on

appropriate occasion may issue a public statement describing the reasons

for closing an antitrust investigation. The issuance of any such statement

will be based upon the following considerations:

•Antitrust analysis is complex;

•Best practice recommendations call for increased dissemination

of rationales for enforcement and non-enforcement;

•Public dissemination of enforcement and non-enforcement

rationales benefit businesses attempting to comply with complex

antitrust standards and consumers through a better understanding

of the antitrust laws; and

•Transparency of antitrust analysis helps international enforcers

understand U.S. standards for antitrust enforcement, encourages

international convergence on enforcement standards, and serves

to prevent noncompetition issues from inappropriately

influencing antitrust enforcement.

The Antitrust Division will consider issuing a public statement of its

reasons for closing an antitrust investigation without taking enforcement

action in the following circumstances and with the following

considerations in mind:

•The Division will only consider issuing a statement if the

investigation has previously been publicly confirmed by the

Department;

•The Division will evaluate whether the matter has received

substantial publicity. In general the more publicity that a matter

has received the more likely it is that the Division will issue a

statement; and

•The Division will evaluate the value to the public in receiving

information regarding the reasons for non-enforcement

(including public trust in the Department’s enforcement, and the