In September, US Federal Trade Commission staff and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice released a joint model waiver of confidentiality for use in civil matters involving non-U.S. competition authorities. The model waiver can be used by individuals and companies in merger and civil enforcement matters involving concurrent review by US and non-US competition authorities. The model waiver is designed to streamline the waiver process to significantly reduce the burden on individuals and companies, as well as to reduce the agencies’ time and resources involved in negotiating waivers.

 To promote greater transparency and better understanding of the FTC’s and DOJ’s and policies and practices related to waivers, the FTC staff and DOJ also released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to accompany the model waiver. The FAQ provides introductory information on waivers and on the confidentiality rules applicable to the information provided under the model waiver. It also describes the process for providing a waiver to either agency and explains specific provisions of the model waiver. By issuing the model waiver and accompanying FAQ jointly, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice hope to facilitate parties’ use of waivers generally and, in particular, the model waiver. 

More information about waivers can be found in the ICN’s Merger Working Group’s report on Waivers of Confidentiality in Merger Investigations. The accompanying paper discusses the rationale for, content of, and use of waivers. It includes a copy of the ICN’s model waiver. The use of waivers has also been discussed as part of the Merger Working Group’s call series on international cooperation. The next call in that series will be held on January 16, 2013.