Clifford Chance

Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Bill to Overhaul HSR Filing Fees

May 17, 2021

On May 13, 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill that would drastically change the fee structure for pre-merger notification filings made pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended ("HSR Act"). The bill, titled the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021 would dramatically increase some filing fees, including raising fees to $2.25 million for transactions valued at $5 billion or more. The bipartisan bill, which passed by a voice vote, was co-sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, the head of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, and Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA, the Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee. The bill would also increase the annual budgets of the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the Department of Justice ("DOJ") Antitrust Division.

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