In brief President Trump has issued an Executive Order (the Order) directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch investigations into the U.S. food sector, focusing on potential price-fixing, other forms of criminal collusion, and non-criminal anticompetitive conduct. The Order creates new Food Supply Chain…
On 24 November 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a proposed settlement with RealPage Inc. over alleged antitrust violations tied to its rental pricing algorithms. The agreement, effective for seven years, includes no fines or admission of wrongdoing.
Key terms restrict RealPage to using data at least 12 months old, prohibit real-time lease data, and ban geographic modeling below the state level. The company must avoid identical pricing recommendations, remove features discouraging price cuts, and stop sharing nonpublic, forward-looking data. A court-appointed monitor will oversee compliance.
This settlement underscores DOJ’s focus on algorithmic collusion and AI-driven pricing practices.
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, has launched a Whistleblower Rewards Program to combat antitrust crimes. Following the DOJ Criminal Division’s launch of a whistleblower pilot program last year,1 the Antitrust Division is now offering a reward to whistleblowers. Under the new program, individuals who report credible and timely evidence of antitrust collusion—such as price-fixing or bid-rigging and certain monopolization cases—may receive up to 30% of recovered criminal fines. This marks a significant step in expanding detection tools for antitrust violations, with reports to be submitted through a dedicated DOJ webpage.
On January 14, 2025, the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a Joint Statement, asserting that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) undermine whistleblower protection laws, including the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act (CAARA), when they deter or prevent an employee from coming forward. The Antitrust Division noted they are focused on allowing individuals to report antitrust violations without the fear of retaliation. The Joint Statement also warns against using NDAs as an improper shield to obstruct an investigation, which may result in separate federal criminal violations for companies.
The Investigating Authority of the Federal Economic Competition Commission published on 2 March 2023, the notice of initiation of an investigation for alleged horizontal monopolistic practices, also known as cartel practices, consisting in agreements between competitors to coordinate their bids in tenders by the Mexican Public Health sector to acquire radiological equipment and related products. Cartel Practices in the public health sector have been consistently considered by COFECE as a serious offense, as such acts have a direct impact on the number and quality of medical supplies purchased with public resources by government institutions for the care of the population.
On 7 October 2022, the Investigative Authority of the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) published the notice of initiation of an investigation for alleged horizontal monopolistic practices, also known as cartel practices, which include agreements to manipulate prices, restricting supply, or coordinating bids in the market for the production, distribution, and commercialization of flat glass and products manufactured from flat glass in the national market.
Companies looking for ways to ensure their supply chains are environmentally and socially ethical often doubt whether they can effect change alone. Companies in certain industries may decide that a joint initiative can be more effective in developing industry-wide standards, and may determine that working together could be more efficient to meet these goals or objectives. However, such collaborations may raise antitrust risks, and many competition authorities are starting to increase scrutiny of these types of collaborations.
On 27 October 2022, the Investigating Authority of the Federal Economic Commission (COFECE) published a notice initiating an investigation into the marketing of services related to credit card transactions in the form of deferred payments with interest-free months due to alleged absolute monopolistic practices (or cartel practices), in particular, price fixing and the exchange of commercially sensitive information.
The Investigating Authority of the Federal Economic Competition Commission published on 12 October 2022, a notice initiating an investigation, for alleged anticompetitive conduct of horizontal monopolistic practices (or cartel practices) in the market of public procurement procedures for the acquisition, leasing, maintenance services and managed services of information and communication technologies.
On 13 July 2021, the Federal Economic Competition Commission published in the Federal Official Gazette the notice regarding the initiation of an investigation due to possible absolute monopolistic practices allegedly carried out in the market for maritime transportation services in the state of Quintana Roo.
Absolute monopolistic practices are anti-competitive agreements, contracts or arrangements between competing economic agents, whose object or effect is the manipulation of prices, restriction or limitation of supply or demand, division or segmentation of markets, agreement or coordination of bids in auctions, as well as the exchange of information between competitors to carry out any of the aforementioned conducts. These practices can also be referred to as horizontal or cartel practices.