Hart-Scott-Rodino Act

AMENDING THE Clayton Act of 1914 (which covers stock acquisition in restraint of trade), the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR) (15 U.S.C. 18a) requires that certain proposed mergers of assets be approved before-hand by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the antitrust authorities in the United States.

Calls for legislation covered by HSR date back to the Dwight Eisenhower administration in the 1950s and Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960s. Prior to HSR, unfair restraint of trade related to stock acquisition could be prosecuted only after a restraint was found. The first set of rules became effective on July 31, 1978, and has been amended by both antitrust authorities numerous times to improve ...