United States: Cartels, Monopolies

Major antitrust developments from August 2026 span multiple jurisdictions, including U.S. court rulings on oil price-fixing and printer cartridge restrictions, FTC quantum computing merger reviews...

California's legislative branch has sent Assembly Bill 1776, known as the COMPETE Act, to Governor Gavin Newsom for signature, marking a significant expansion of the state's antitrust enforcement capabilities. If enacted, this legislation would empower California's Attorney General to challenge single-firm monopolistic conduct under the Cartwright Act...

State attorneys general in Florida and Louisiana have filed lawsuits against pharmacy benefit managers alleging collusion and price-fixing of reimbursement rates paid to retail and independent pharmacies. These cases represent a growing trend of states pursuing antitrust enforcement actions against PBMs for allegedly coordinating to suppress pharmacy reimbursements.

This comprehensive global competition law update examines recent enforcement actions, regulatory developments, and judicial decisions across multiple jurisdictions including the United States...

On June 4, 2026, Crowell Partners Caroline Brown and Anand Sithian hosted the ACSS New York Chapter at the New York office for an in-person panel discussion titled...

The Department of Justice recently announced that Bayer CropScience voluntarily removed potentially anticompetitive provisions from its Premier Performance Program during an ongoing investigation. The program's tying arrangements and exclusivity incentives raised concerns about foreclosing competition in seed markets, highlighting critical antitrust risks that companies with loyalty programs should evaluate before facing enforcement scrutiny.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated in accompanying remarks that the CEP is intended to "create[] incentives for companies to come forward" because companies will "know that, across the Department, they will be rewarded when they self-disclose wrongdoing, cooperate with our investigations, and remediate the misconduct."

This section presents a series of visual snapshots illustrating how antitrust enforcement fines were distributed across Europe, APAC, and the Americas in 2025. The analysis highlights notable regional differences in enforcement priorities and identifies the types of conduct most commonly penalised by competition authorities in each jurisdiction.

A key theme of antitrust enforcement throughout 2025 has been a distinct focus on strategic sectors identified as critical for economic growth and supply chain resilience. As individuals and governments alike seek to reduce their expenditure, antitrust scrutiny has zeroed in on areas of importance to consumers and of significant public spending.