U.S.A:FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION newest

FTC Staff Provides Annual Letter to CFPB on Equal Credit Opportunity Act Activities The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has provided the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with an annual summary of its activities enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The FTC is responsible for ECOA enforcement and education regarding most non-bank financial service providers. In the summary, FTC staff describes the Commission’s work on ECOA-related policy issues, including those addressed in research and policy development such as a proposed consumer survey to provide insights into consumer understanding of the automobile purchasing and financing process at dealerships; a report outlining questions for businesses to consider to help ensure that their use of big data avoids outcomes that may be exclusionary or discriminatory; a report on fraud in African American and Latino communities; and FTC workshops. The summary also outlines the Commission’s business and consumer education efforts on fair lending issues. The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources. FTC Approves Final Order with Parent Company of Bausch + Lomb Order with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. preserves U.S. competition in markets for discs used to make 3 types of contact lenses Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that Bausch + Lomb parent company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. illegally acquired Paragon Holdings I, Inc. Prior to the 2015 acquisition, both Valeant and an independent Paragon produced polymer discs, or “buttons,” used to make rigid gas permeable, or “GP,” contact lenses. The FTC alleged that Valeant’s acquisition of Paragon eliminated competition between the two companies for the sale of FDA-approved buttons used for three types of GP lenses. The acquisition combined the two largest manufacturers of GP buttons, accounting for more than 70 percent of U.S. sales across all three button types according to the complaint. The FTC also alleged that following Valeant’s acquisition of Paragon, the company used its market power to increase prices, reduce volume discounts, decrease innovation, and reduce product distribution options in each button market. First announced in November 2016, the order required Valeant to sell Paragon in its entirety to a newly created entity, Paragon Companies LLC, which also would acquire the assets of Pelican Products LLC. Pelican – a contact lens packaging manufacturer that Valeant acquired after it bought Paragon – was the only producer of FDA-approved vials used for shipping some finished GP lenses. The Commission vote approving the final order was 3-0. (FTC File No. 151 0236; the staff contact is Charles Harwood, Director, Northwest Regional Office, 206-220-4480.) The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about how competition benefits consumers or file an antitrust complaint. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources. FTC Acting Chairman Ohlhausen Names Thomas Pahl Acting Director of the Agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen announced today that she has appointed Thomas Pahl, a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, to be the Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.  “Tom’s career demonstrates his continuing commitment to protecting consumers through active enforcement and advocacy that promotes a free and honest marketplace,” said Acting Chairman Ohlhausen. “His thoughtful approach will help ensure consumers benefit from thriving competition and innovation. Tom’s talent, deep consumer protection experience, and strong principles make him perfect to lead the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and I’m very pleased to have him aboard.” Pahl is rejoining the FTC, having served in a number of different roles starting in 1990, including management stints in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection as Assistant Director in the Division of Advertising Practices and the Division of Financial Practices. He also advised top agency officials on consumer protection matters. For three years, he advised Reagan appointee and FTC Commissioner Mary Azcuenaga. And he later served for four years as an attorney advisor for Republican FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle.  Pahl previously served a detail to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee under the leadership of Chairman Orrin Hatch, focusing on antitrust and consumer privacy issues. Pahl also has worked as an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, and is a member of the Federalist Society. More recently, Pahl has worked on consumer financial protection issues (especially credit reporting and debt collection issues) as a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, and on debt collection issues at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Pahl is a native Minnesotan who earned a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He earned his law degree, cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois. Afterwards, he returned to Minnesota to clerk for Hon. D.D. Wozniak, the Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and worked as a litigator a large Minneapolis law firm before starting his career at the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).  Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.