Federal Trade Commission
The
Federal Trade Commission (or
FTC) is an
independent agency of the United States government, established in
1914 by the
Federal Trade Commission Act. Its principal mission is the promotion of
consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices.
The
Federal Trade Commission Act was one of
President Wilson's major acts against
trusts. Trusts and
trust-busting were significant political concerns during the
Progressive Era. Since its inception the FTC has enforced the provisions of the
Clayton Act, a contemporaneous
antitrust statute. Over time, the FTC has been delegated the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes.
The FTC is headed by five Commissioners. Day-to-day operations are run by the Office of the Executive Director. Three bureaus carry out the FTC's substantive work: the Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Bureau of Competition, and the Bureau of Economics. Additional arms of the FTC lend further support to its work. The Office of General Counsel advises the Commission on legal matters and represents the Commission in court. The Office of Administrative Law Judges furnishes the officials who adjudicate
administrative proceedings at the FTC. The Regional Offices serve as the investigatory organs of the FTC.
The Federal Trade Commission is headed by five Commissioners who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. No more than three Commissioners may be from the same political party. A Commissioner's term of office is seven years, and the terms are staggered so that in a given year at most one Commissioner's term expires (although in certain years, no Commissioner's term expires).
The Bureau of Consumer Protection's mandate is to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive or fraudulent practices. It enforces both federal law related to consumer affairs and rules promulgated by the FTC. Its functions comprise investigations, enforcement actions, and consumer and business education. Areas of principal concern for this bureau are: advertising and marketing, financial products and practices, telemarketing fraud, and privacy and identity protection. The bureau also is responsible for the
United States National Do Not Call Registry. The current Director of the bureau is Lydia Parnes.
The Bureau of Competition is the division of the FTC charged with elimination and prevention of anticompetitve business practices. It accomplishes this through the enforcement of antitrust laws, review of proposed
mergers, and investigation into other non-merger business practices that may impair competition. Such non-merger practices include horizontal restraints, involving agreements between direct competitors, and vertical restraints, involving agreements among businesses at different levels in the same industry (such as suppliers and commercial buyers).
The FTC shares enforcement of antitrust laws with the
Department of Justice. However, while the FTC is responsible for civil enforcement of antitrust laws, the
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice has the power to bring both civil and criminal action in antitrust matters.
The Bureau of Economics is responsible for advising the FTC on the economic effects of its regulation of industry as well as government regulation of competition and consumer protection generally. Additionally, the bureau provides statistical analysis for use in enforcement proceedings.
The FTC carries out its mission by investigating issues raised by reports from consumers and businesses, premerger notification filings, congressional inquiries, or reports in the
media. These issues include, for instance,
false advertising and other forms of
fraud. FTC investigations may pertain to a single company or an entire industry. If the results of the investigation reveal unlawful conduct, the FTC may seek voluntary compliance by the offending business through a
consent order, file an administrative complaint, or initiate federal litigation. Additionally, the FTC has
rulemaking power to address concerns regarding industry-wide practices. Rules promulgated under this authority are known as
Trade Regulation Rules.
In 1984 the FTC began to regulate the funeral service industry in order to protect consumers from deceptive practices such as "tying." A major regulation by the FTC in this area requires funeral homes to provide all customers (and potential customers) with a General Price List, specifically outlining goods and services in the funeral industry, as defined by the FTC, and a listing of their prices. By law, the General Price List must be presented to all individuals that ask, no one is to be denied a written, retainable copy of the GPL.
In the mid 1990s, the FTC launched the fraud sweeps concept where the agency and its federal, state, and local partners filed simultaneous legal actions against multiple telemarketing fraud targets. The first sweeps action was
Project Telesweep [
1] in July 1995 which cracked down on 100 business opportunity scams.
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Brandeis Award, awarded annually by the FTC to "outstanding litigators"
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Business opportunity*
United States National Do Not Call Registry*
Competition law*
Competition policy*
Competition regulator*
Consumers' Association*
Consumer protection*
Better Business Bureau Video Series*
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