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The Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission and Justice Department announced today that they are co-hosting three workshops to facilitate public dialogue on the 2023 Draft Merger Guidelines the agencies announced in July.

The workshops are aimed at promoting a dynamic discussion about the draft guidelines to complement the comments currently being submitted to the agencies by the public. The goal of the merger guidelines update is to better reflect how the agencies determine a merger’s effect on competition in the modern economy and evaluate proposed mergers under the law.

The first workshop will take place on September 5 from 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET and will be livestreamed on the FTC’s website. More information including a tentative agenda for the workshop can be found on the event page.

The virtual workshop will feature two panel discussions with academics, economists, practitioners, and former enforcers regarding questions and issues on which public comment will be most useful.

Information about forthcoming workshops will be announced at a later date.

The FTC and DOJ continue to encourage comments from the public on the draft guidelines, which may be through September 18, 2023. The agencies will use the public comments to evaluate and update the draft before finalizing the guidelines.

The FTC and DOJ protect competition through enforcement of the antitrust laws and other federal competition statutes. Since 1968, the agencies have issued and revised merger guidelines to enhance transparency and promote awareness of how the agencies carry out that charge with respect to mergers and acquisitions. The draft guidelines describe and guide the agencies’ review of mergers and acquisitions to determine compliance with federal antitrust laws.