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2015 Antitrust M&A Year in Review

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.26.16

Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to release its "2015 Antitrust M&A Year in Review." Following a record-breaking year for volume of transactions, this publication provides insight and analysis into developments and trends in global antitrust enforcement of mergers and acquisitions. We examine the antitrust agencies' increasing focus on protecting innovation and emerging forms of competition, requiring broader remedies and more competitive divestiture buyers, and highly scrutinizing transactions in markets where prior consolidation was not challenged. We also look at the agencies' increasing willingness to challenge transactions through litigation, and their relatively successful recent track record.

The report spotlights areas that were particularly noteworthy in 2015, including telecom, health care, energy, and IP and innovation. We also take a look at the first year of Commissioner Vestager's merger enforcement in Europe, the growing influence of third parties in merger review proceedings, and procedural trends at the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division that impact the cost and timeline of merger review in the U.S.

Given the likelihood that recent antitrust merger enforcement developments foreshadow what to expect in the coming year, the 2015 Antitrust M&A Year in Review provides insight into trends that will be highly relevant going forward. We hope that you will find this report useful and welcome your feedback.

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2015 Antitrust M&A Year in Review

2015 Antitrust M&A Year in Review

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 05.16.25

EPA Maintains Current Drinking Water Standards for PFOA and PFOS but Plans To Reconsider Other PFAS Compounds

On May 14, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced that it will keep the current National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (“NPDWR”) for perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (“PFOS”) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”), while extending the compliance deadline from 2029 to 2031. EPA further announced it plans to rescind requirements in those regulations applicable to other PFAS and mixtures of certain PFAS in drinking water. The NPDWR consists of legally enforceable primary standards and treatment techniques that apply to public water systems and guide EPA’s enforcement of the SDWA. This announcement follows EPA’s April 28, 2025 press release outlining its priorities for PFAS enforcement, which included 21 actions EPA intends to take to address PFAS and “engage with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework that ensures the polluter pays and passive receivers are protected.”...