Hearings on Competition and Consumer 

Protection in the 21st Century

The FTC’s Role in a 

Changing World

Federal Trade Commission

October 2020
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

October 2020

Joe Simons Chairman

Noah Joshua Phillips Commissioner

Rohit Chopra Commissioner

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter Commissioner

Christine S. Wilson Commissioner

This Report represents the views of staff of the FTC’s Office of International Affairs

and not necessarily those of the Commission or any Commissioner.

The Commission has authorized the staff to issue the Report.

This report is available online at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/events-calendar/ftchearing-11-competition-consumer-protection-21st-century.

The online version of this report contains live hyperlinks.
The FTC’s Role in a Changing World: Staff Recommendations and Report

Contents

INTRODUCTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4

APPENDIX 11

OPENING REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN JOSEPH SIMONS 12

SETTING THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE 13

SUMMARY OF PANEL 1: Building Enforcement 

Cooperation for the 21st Century 16

SUMMARY OF PANEL 2: Consumer Protection and 

Privacy Enforcement Cooperation 19

SUMMARY OF PANEL 3: Competition Enforcement 

Cooperation 23

SUMMARY OF PANEL 4: International Engagement and 

Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence Case 

Study 26

REMARKS BY COMMISSIONER NOAH PHILLIPS 30

SUMMARY OF PANEL 5: Implications of Different Legal 

Traditions and Regimes for International Cooperation 31

REMARKS BY COMMISSIONER CHRISTINE WILSON 35

SUMMARY OF PANEL 6: Promoting Sound Policies for 

the Next Decade 36

SUMMARY OF PANEL 7: Effective International 

Engagement: Foreign Agency Perspectives 40

REMARKS BY JAMES RILL 44

SUMMARY OF PANEL 8: The FTC’s Role in a Changing 

World 46

ENDNOTES 50
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INTRODUCTION AND 

RECOMMENDATIONS

On March 25-26, the Federal Trade Commission held the 

eleventh in its series of hearings, “Competition and Consumer 

Protection in the 21st Century.” This session, “The FTC’s Role in 

A Changing World,” co-sponsored by the George Washington 

University Law School Competition Law Center and organized 

by the FTC’s Office of International Affairs, explored the FTC’s 

international role in light of globalization, technological change, 

and the increasing number of competition, consumer protection, and privacy laws and 

enforcement agencies around the world.1

The session featured 44 speakers from 17 jurisdictions as well as presentations by FTC Chairman 

Joseph Simons and other current and former Commissioners. It elicited input from foreign and 

U.S. agency officials, private practitioners, and academic and civil society speakers on the 

implications of international developments for the FTC’s work on behalf of American 

consumers. The session also touched on issues explored in other hearings sessions such as the 

role of the consumer welfare standard in antitrust enforcement and the implications of predictive 

analytics, artificial intelligence, and big data.

The session looked at different aspects of the FTC’s international program through five 

presentations and eight panels:

• Building Enforcement Cooperation for the 21st Century

• Consumer Protection and Privacy Enforcement Cooperation

• Competition Enforcement Cooperation

• International Engagement and Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence Case Study

• Implications of Different Legal Traditions and Regimes for International Cooperation

• Promoting Sound Policies for the Next Decade

• Effective International Engagement: Foreign Agency Perspectives

• The FTC’s Role in a Changing World

The presentations and panels provided information and ideas for the FTC to consider on: the 

effectiveness of the FTC’s enforcement cooperation tools and approaches in light of new 

challenges in competition, consumer protection, and privacy matters; the effectiveness of the 

FTC’s approaches to promoting international policy coordination and best practice development; 

and strategies for international enforcement and policy engagement in today’s dynamic global 

marketplace.
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In addition to session testimony, several organizations and individuals submitted comments for 

the record in response to the hearing announcement, which posed 21 questions related to the 

panel topics.2

Twenty-four years ago, Chairman Pitofsky anticipated the major role that globalization and 

technological change would play in shaping the FTC's priorities and enforcement agenda. This 

hearing, dedicated to the international aspects of the Commission’s missions, reflects the 

important role that the international dimension of the FTC's competition, consumer protection, 

and data privacy work are to accomplishing our goals.

– Randolph Tritell, 

Federal Trade Commission

Based on the hearing, the Office of International Affairs makes the following five observations 

and recommendations:

1. We applaud Congress’s recent reauthorization of the U.S. SAFE WEB Act,3 which will 

continue to protect American consumers and facilitate cross-border commerce. Congress 

should make its provisions a permanent part of the FTC Act to protect American 

consumers and facilitate cross-border commerce.

2. The FTC should pursue additional mechanisms for enhanced antitrust information sharing 

and investigative assistance and work to overcome foreign barriers to FTC enforcement.

3. The FTC should continue to exercise international leadership, leveraging its expertise and 

cross-disciplinary synergies to address emerging issues. 

4. The FTC should expand on its initiatives to build strong relations with counterparts, 

including through its International Technical Assistance and International Fellows 

programs. 

5. The FTC’s experience and expertise should inform U.S. government policies that involve 

international issues within the FTC’s mandate.

This report elaborates on these observations and recommendations, which are grounded in the

hearing record and the related experience of the Office of International Affairs.

1. We applaud Congress’s recent reauthorization of the U.S. SAFE WEB Act, which will 

continue to protect American consumers and facilitate cross-border commerce, and 

request that Congress make its provisions a permanent part of the FTC Act.

The Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act 

(“SAFE WEB Act”), enacted in 2006 for a period of seven years, and reauthorized in 2012

through September 30, 2020, was a key topic throughout the international hearings.4

 The SAFE 

WEB Act confirms the FTC’s legal authority to sue foreign wrongdoers and challenge 
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misleading practices with a nexus to the United States or American consumers. It gives the FTC 

critical powers to enhance cross-border cooperation on consumer protection investigations and 

fraud actions, as well as to support cross-border data transfer mechanisms. It also enhances the 

agency’s ability to cooperate through memoranda of understanding, international agreements, 

and staff exchanges. The FTC has used the Act’s powers hundreds of times in a wide range of 

cases – from Internet pyramid schemes and sweepstakes telemarketing scams, to complex 

advertising and privacy investigations. Recognizing the critical importance of the Act to 

accomplishing the FTC’s mission, the Commission asked Congress to reauthorize the Act and 

eliminate the sunset provision so that the Act’s provisions become a permanent part of the FTC 

Act.5 Congress reauthorized the SAFE WEB Act on September 24, 2020. H.R. 4779 was signed 

into law on October 20, 2020, extending the SAFE WEB Act with a seven-year sunset provision 

to September 30, 2027.6

The hearings confirmed the Act’s value and success as well as the need to make it a permanent 

part of the FTC’s authority. Foreign consumer protection, privacy, and criminal law 

enforcement officials, as well as senior U.S. agency officials and academics, singled out the 

legislation as “a key element” of the FTC’s response to a changing world.7 Former FTC 

Chairman and George Washington University Law School Professor William Kovacic explained 

that the Act created an “indispensable element of the infrastructure that supports international 

cooperation today” by supporting reciprocal assistance, bilateral information sharing, and 

international staff exchanges.8 Foreign enforcers, including representatives from the United 

Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office and two Canadian law enforcement agencies 

agreed, citing numerous, concrete examples of investigative and case cooperation pursuant to the 

SAFE WEB Act.9 Others described how they had developed reciprocal mechanisms modeled on 

the SAFE WEB Act that enable them to provide similar assistance to the FTC.10 Deputy 

Assistant Secretary James Sullivan from the Department of Commerce’s International Trade 

Administration underscored the importance of the Act for cross-border commerce. He 

explained, for example, that the FTC’s powers under the Act are “integral” to the functioning of 

the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules System, an important mechanism that many U.S. 

companies use to carry out cross-border data flows.11

Eliminating the sunset provision in the SAFE WEB Act would bring the FTC in line with 

agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, which obtained such powers, without a 

sunset, more than 25 years ago.12 Indeed, an SEC official at the hearing described how the SEC 

has used its similar authority as the basis for developing a multilateral mutual enforcement 

arrangement that handles thousands of requests each year and helps protect American investors 

from securities fraud.13 Like the SEC, the FTC needs the SAFE WEB Act’s tools as part of its 

permanent authority so it can continue and expand its current cross-border enforcement efforts to 

protect U.S. consumers. 
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2. The FTC should pursue additional mechanisms for enhanced antitrust information 

sharing and investigative assistance and seek to overcome foreign barriers to FTC 

enforcement.

In today’s interconnected world, the ability of agencies to obtain and share information quickly 

and efficiently is critical to cross-border investigations. Participants stressed the importance of 

streamlining the processes for obtaining information, including confidential information, and 

investigative assistance from counterpart agencies.14 While the U.S. SAFE WEB Act provides 

valuable tools to aid cross-border consumer protection and privacy investigations, the 

Commission’s ability to pursue evidence in cross-border antitrust cases is less robust. The FTC 

has entered into a network of competition cooperation agreements and memoranda of 

understanding that have provided important legal frameworks for cooperation and catalyzed 

closer staff relationships.15 They do not, however, provide for the ability to share confidential 

information or to use domestic investigative tools to provide investigative assistance to the other 

country’s agency. The International Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Act of 1994 provided the 

authority to enter into agreements that would provide those tools through mutual assistance 

agreements.16 

However, because various impediments, including statutory and policy-based restrictions on the 

ability to use information received from foreign authorities for non-antitrust purposes and in 

criminal prosecutions, the FTC and DOJ have been able to conclude only one agreement (with 

Australia) pursuant to the Act. The agencies should therefore redouble their efforts to overcome 

these obstacles, as, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been able to do in 

participating in the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding of the International 

Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).17 The agencies may also wish to consider 

seeking statutory changes that would better enable the agencies to fulfill the goals Congress 

intended in enacting the statute.

Panelists also discussed how the growth of privacy and data protection laws internationally 

presents challenges for cross-border investigations and cases. They recognized the value of 

safeguarding personal data, but expressed concerns that some laws are constraining agencies 

from sharing or obtaining, for example, personal information in consumer complaints or 

documents that include a company employee’s personal data. At the hearings, several enforcers 

described situations when their agencies either wanted to share or obtain information for 

enforcement purposes with their counterparts, but were unable to do so because of privacy 

laws.18 They observed that, in some cases, counterpart agencies had confused privacy and 

confidentiality laws, or invoked privacy laws as a reason not to share even non-personal, nonconfidential information.19 

Nonetheless, panelists agreed that agencies could overcome such challenges while adhering to 

privacy laws. James Dipple-Johnstone, from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, for 
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example, advised agencies to think about “what information do you need, how is it going to be 

transmitted, how is it going to be secured, and what purpose is it going to be used for.”20 In 

addition, representatives from securities agencies explained how IOSCO and the European 

Securities and Markets Authority entered into an “administrative arrangement” to allow EU 

authorities to use the “public interest” exception in the General Data Protection Regulation 

(GDPR) to share personal data in securities investigations with non-EU authorities that commit 

to data safeguards.21 Given its expertise in privacy and data security, the FTC should play a lead 

role internationally in reducing barriers to information sharing by developing mechanisms for 

regulators and enforcers to share information effectively and efficiently while providing strong 

protections for consumer data.

3. The FTC should continue to exercise international leadership, leveraging its expertise 

and cross-disciplinary synergies to address emerging issues. 

The hearings provided strong support for FTC leadership on antitrust, consumer protection, and 

privacy and data security issues in international policy organizations and enforcement 

networks.22

Panelists recognized the FTC’s leadership in promoting sound antitrust enforcement 

internationally, and offered suggestions for its continuation and expansion. They cited the FTC’s 

role in the International Competition Network (ICN), a network of virtually all of the world’s 

competition agencies aimed at promoting convergence toward sound competition policy and 

enforcement and cooperation among member agencies. The FTC has led projects resulting in 

several important best practice recommendations, including on merger notification and review 

procedures and on the assessment of dominance. Most recently, the FTC led the ICN’s project 

on due process principles, resulting in Guiding Principles on Procedural Fairness and 

Recommended Practices for Investigative Process. Several panelists urged the FTC to continue 

its leadership, including in the critical area of due process. The FTC’s leadership in the OECD 

and UNCTAD were similarly cited for their positive influence on the development of global 

antitrust policies and enforcement.23

Panelists also commended the FTC’s sharing of its research, policies, and practices with the 

international community, including through issuing guidelines and publishing studies.24 In 2017, 

for example, the FTC played a primary role in revising the provisions of the Antitrust Guidelines 

for International Enforcement and Cooperation that described the agencies’ policy regarding the 

use of extraterritorial remedies, and recommended that other agencies consider adopting the 

same approach.25

The hearings also drew calls for the FTC to expand its leadership efforts in newer international 

policy areas. While many jurisdictions are tackling privacy and data security issues for the first 

time, the FTC has decades of experience in analyzing privacy issues arising from new consumer-
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facing technologies and bringing enforcement actions that establish strong privacy and data 

security norms and practices for businesses. Several panelists urged the FTC to promote these 

norms and advance best practices globally, including through interoperable data transfer 

frameworks and accountability mechanisms.26 One panelist from the OECD explained that the 

FTC’s understanding of markets makes it “perfectly poised” to lead on issues relating to privacy 

and data as a driver of production in the economy.27

Panelists also identified challenges to FTC leadership, noting the growth of privacy laws and 

frameworks in Europe and other foreign jurisdictions.28 Even without comprehensive U.S. 

privacy legislation, panelists agreed that the FTC has an important leadership role to play 

internationally. They cited the agency’s broad jurisdiction and history of strong enforcement and 

remedies in privacy and data security cases. Some panelists recognized, however, that the FTC 

would need help from Congress to maintain U.S. leadership in this area. Echoing the 

Commission’s recent Congressional testimony calling for strong, comprehensive privacy 

legislation, former Chairman Kovacic called for new U.S. privacy laws with a “comprehensive 

FTC mandate with no jurisdictional carve-outs” to ensure the FTC’s continued, effective 

international engagement.29

4. The FTC should expand on its initiatives to build strong relations with counterparts, 

including through its International Technical Assistance and International Fellows 

programs.

Panelists urged the FTC to build on its work promoting international convergence and 

developing strong enforcement cooperation partnerships by engaging directly with the leadership 

and staff of its foreign counterparts in new ways. The agency already fosters these relationships 

bilaterally and through regional and multilateral fora, including the OECD, ICN, and ICPEN. In 

addition to a continuing focus on case cooperation and dialogue, panelists suggested that the 

FTC explore additional opportunities for joint initiatives such as joint workshops and studies, 

and more regional engagement to deepen relationships and understanding among agencies.

Panelists also expressed support for the FTC’s International Technical Assistance program and 

International Fellows program, characterizing them as valuable tools to build capacity, deepen 

cooperation, and promote convergence. For the past thirty years, the FTC has provided technical 

assistance to foreign competition and consumer protection agencies, conducting hundreds of 

short and long-term training missions and commenting on proposed laws, regulations, and 

guidelines.30 In 2007, the FTC established its International Fellows program based on 

authorizing provisions in the SAFE WEB Act.31 Since then, the agency has hosted over 120 

officials from 40 countries for periods of several months and has detailed staff to counterpart 

agencies. Several panelists stated that these types of programs help agencies bring their laws and 

practices into line with international best practices and strengthen ties between agency 

officials.32 These programs are subject to FTC resource constraints as well as technical 
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assistance funding from USAID and other agencies.

5. The FTC’s experience and expertise should inform U.S. government policies involving 

international issues that fall within the FTC’s mandate.

Issues within the FTC’s mandate often involve other U.S. government agencies that, 

increasingly, encounter competition, consumer protection, and data privacy concerns in their 

international work. These include, for instance, issues of national treatment, due process, and 

treatment of intellectual property rights in foreign antitrust enforcement and remedies in foreign 

privacy enforcement. Citing the FTC’s experience and expertise in competition, consumer 

protection, and data privacy law and policy, panelists expressed support for an appropriate FTC 

role in related U.S. government discussions. For example, the FTC could play an important role 

when the U.S. government evaluates and responds to foreign legislative or regulatory proposals 

that fall within the FTC’s mandate. Panelists noted that the FTC can be an effective advocate 

for principles such as consumer welfare, sound economics, and interoperability of systems that 

promote U.S. interests and serve American consumers. Based on its expertise and its 

constructive relationships with foreign agencies, the FTC can help assess the impact of 

prospective foreign government policies and enforcement on competition, consumer protection, 

and data privacy law and policy and on U.S. interests. Thus, at the hearing, former Assistant 

Attorney General for Antitrust James Rill noted “[w]hatever decisions are being made on 

antitrust, the DOJ and the Commission should have a seat at the table.”33 The FTC has been a 

valuable contributor to the U.S. interagency process and can continue to help guide U.S. policy 

involving international issues that fall within the FTC’s mandate to best serve the interests of 

American consumers.
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APPENDIX
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OPENING REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN JOSEPH 

SIMONS

Federal Trade Commission Chairman, Joseph Simons, introduced the two-day session by 

recalling that this hearing’s focus on international issues echoes the emphasis on globalization 

that motivated the 1995 hearings convened by Chairman Pitofsky. He addressed the effect of 

international developments on core areas of the FTC’s international work – enforcement and 

policy cooperation – in consumer protection and competition matters.

The Chairman explained the importance of the U.S. SAFE WEB Act for consumer protection 

enforcement cooperation in four key areas: information sharing, investigative assistance, crossborder jurisdictional authority, and enforcement relationships.34 He cited the Act’s “remarkable 

success” in responding to 130 information-sharing requests from more than 30 foreign 

enforcement agencies since its inception in 2006. In particular, he highlighted the agency’s use 

of its SAFE WEB information sharing power in a recent $30 million settlement in sweepstakes 

scam case involving cooperation with Canada and the United Kingdom.35 He called for a 

renewal of the U.S. SAFE WEB Act in 2020, without a sunset provision.36 Chairman Simons 

also announced a consumer protection Memorandum of Understanding with the United 

Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, which will further support the FTC’s 

enforcement cooperation.37

Chairman Simons referenced other tools that facilitate enforcement cooperation for both 

missions such as bilateral and multilateral agreements and arrangements. In competition 

enforcement matters, Simons noted that the FTC cooperates “daily with our foreign 

counterparts.”38

The Chairman cited the FTC’s participation and leadership in international networks, including 

the International Competition Network and International Consumer Protection and Enforcement 

Network, as well as the FTC’s own Technical Assistance and International Fellows programs.39

He noted that these programs foster “trust-based relations and facilitate the development of best 

practices and effective and predictable enforcement cooperation.40

Chairman Simons welcomed input on “whether there is more the FTC could and should be doing 

to promote sound consumer protection, privacy, and competition policy internationally.”41
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SETTING THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Recognizing the “extraordinary” developments of recent decades, former Chairman William 

Kovacic (now Professor at the George Washington University Law School and Non-Executive 

Director of the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority) launched the hearings by 

highlighting how technology and changes in the global competition, consumer protection, and 

privacy landscape have affected the FTC’s role.42 Kovacic described the dramatic increase in 

both foreign legal frameworks and laws and in competition and consumer protection authorities, 

and in agencies’ growing, multidimensional mandates.43 These changes have made the 

landscape more complex, but Kovacic noted that they present a “remarkable opportunity to 

measure and assess which kinds of practices might be well adopted on a global basis.”44 He 

emphasized the important role that soft law organizations and regional and cross-border 

enforcement networks, such as the International Competition Network (ICN) and the 

International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN), have played in developing 

global best practices and guiding principles.45

Kovacic explained that the FTC has always dealt with upheaval from new technologies – like the 

telephone and “talking picture[s].”46 He nonetheless opined that “the absolute and relative rate 

of technological change is greater now and that’s changed the mix of issues that have come to 

the top of the agenda.”47 He pointed to significant changes in information technologies that have 

“lifted the prominence of privacy” and made it the “preeminent regulatory issue of our time.”48 

Kovacic pointed to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as an 

extraordinary regulatory development.49

In the face of such technological and legal changes, Kovacic recognized that many institutions 

have already made fundamental structural changes and adopted new tools.50 He nonetheless 

urged government institutions to engage in regular and systematic self-assessments to match the 

pace of innovation and change in the commercial sector.

[A] broad lesson we derive from international experience is that if you’re not revisiting the 

adequacy of your framework every five years at a minimum, you’re missing a good game and 

you’re probably not doing your job properly because the array of changes in the world today 

dictate those changes. If commercial institutions are going to be proficient at innovation and 

change, the public institutions entrusted with their oversight have to be no less inventive, no less 

dynamic, and we see in so many areas globally those changes taking place.51

–William E. Kovacic, 

George Washington University Law School

Kovacic then offered his perspective on how the FTC has adapted to the changing world. 

Admitting he was not a “neutral observer,” he highlighted the creation of the FTC’s Office of 
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International Affairs (OIA), which consolidated several different work units within the FTC into 

a single international office.52 Describing OIA’s work as “unsurpassed,” the former Chairman 

observed that the office constituted “extraordinary” infrastructure that is “indispensable” to 

functioning in this “new world of complexity.”53

Kovacic identified the U.S. SAFE WEB Act as a “key element” of the agency’s response to a 

changing world.54 He explained that, “SAFE WEB created an indispensable element of the 

infrastructure that supports international cooperation today” by supporting reciprocal assistance 

and bilateral information sharing.55 It also provides for the International Fellows program, an 

exchange program that gives foreign officials an insider perspective on the FTC’s approaches, 

and supports the “human glue that holds together international relations.”56

Kovacic praised the FTC’s Technical Assistance program as a “thoughtful and sustaining” 

approach to sharing perspectives from experienced practitioners to case handlers on possible 

ways to approach their work.57 He noted that the FTC had engaged in competition technical 

assistance collaborations with Canada, the European Union, Germany, the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD), and the United Nations Conference on Trade 

and Development (UNCTAD) that represented a “remarkable constellation of common effort.”58 

He also praised the FTC’s close bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Canadian authorities, 

describing the Competition Bureau as a “pillar indispensable to the ICN.”59

Separating what the FTC could do on its own and what it could achieve only with help from 

others (such as Congress), Kovacic considered how the FTC might improve its tools and 

practices. He called for the agency to be more transparent, advocating for fuller disclosure on 

specific matters (i.e., explaining why it declined to take further steps after an investigation) and 

on the overall purposes of its programs.

Kovacic also urged the agency to sustain its commitment to OIA and the international mission.60 

He encouraged the FTC to pursue self-reflection by seeking the insights of its international 

counterparts as to what worked well and what could be improved.61 He recommended that the 

FTC do better job of explaining its activities and operation to the world.62 He advocated 

including information on the agency’s infrastructure (e.g., its administrative processes, 

information management systems, and ethics and conflict of interest policies) in technical 

assistance trainings.63 This would increase “understanding [abroad] of how policy is made 

here.”64 Kovacic highlighted overcoming the common misperception that the United States 

lacks a privacy regime, stating that although it may not be as comprehensive as other systems, 

“[I]t does [exist], and . . . where it exists, it can bite you pretty hard.”65

Turning to what the FTC could improve with the help of others, Kovacic urged more 

coordination with domestic agencies so the world knows who speaks for the United States on 

areas of shared jurisdiction. He urged the FTC and the DOJ to communicate in advance of 

giving speeches or making policy announcements in competition matters. Kovacic also pointed 
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to the extraordinarily close U.S. relationship with its Canadian counterparts as a model to extend 

to other similar regimes such as those of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and 

Singapore.66 He noted the work that went into forging this bond, a process of learning, “meeting 

after meeting” to understand each system and who does what.67 He also advised that agencies 

could work together even more effectively by collaborating on prototypes that could be rolled 

out to others, engaging in case retrospectives on commonly examined targets, and conducting 

joint studies.68

Kovacic concluded by explaining how Congress could help the FTC achieve its goals. First, he 

urged Congress to “renew SAFE WEB with no footnotes attached – unconditional, permanent 

renewal.”69 Second, he called for new privacy laws with a “comprehensive FTC mandate with 

no jurisdictional carve-outs,” explaining “[i]t’s impossible to engage effectively internationally if 

that change doesn't take place.”70 Kovacic concluded by calling on the FTC to focus more on 

infrastructure than “ribbon cutting opportunities” because such investments are “indispensable in 

this multi-polar, complex world . . . .”71
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 1: Building Enforcement 

Cooperation for the 21st Century

Recognizing that “the digital economy is the economy,” panelists delved into the effects of rapid 

technological change and globalization on the FTC and its foreign counterparts.72 In his 

introductory remarks, Matthew Boswell, Canada’s Competition Commissioner, emphasized that 

commerce – and therefore consumer protection and competition enforcement – is not limited by 

borders. He called for more cooperation to approach new challenges and noted the need for 

timely agency action in a fast-moving digital economy.73

The other panelists echoed Commissioner Boswell’s call and recommended streamlining 

cooperation procedures. They observed that enhanced cooperation leads to increased detection 

and deterrence of unlawful conduct. They recognized the value of sharing best practices: 

efficiencies for agencies, better protections for consumers, and less risk and uncertainty for 

businesses.74

The panelists also discussed the range of cooperation mechanisms. Some spoke about the role 

that informal mechanisms play in developing trust and understanding among agency staff and 

officials. Thomas Barnett, who served as the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the 

Department of Justice, emphasized the value of “personal, human interaction,” noting that the 

relationships he developed with foreign enforcers in networks such as the International 

Competition Network (ICN) facilitated “cooperation on some specific enforcement matters that 

might have been challenging if those relationships didn't exist.”75 Others lauded the value of 

staff exchanges and technical assistance programs, such as resident advisors and seminars. 

Chilufya Sampa, Executive Director and CEO of Zambia’s Competition and Consumer 

Protection Commission, explained that these types of interactions with the FTC and other 

experienced agencies had helped the Zambian agency mature and become the first African 

president of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).76

More and more, the conduct we investigate is not constrained by borders, and when change 

happens, the question is not how do we feel about it; the question is how will we respond to it. 

Will we rise to the challenge? Will we seize the opportunities that come with it? These are 

questions that governments around the world are facing, and how we answer these questions will 

define our success going forward.77

–Matthew Boswell, 

Competition Bureau Canada

Panelists also addressed the role of informal networks like ICN and ICPEN. Sampa stated that 

the ICN’s Framework for Merger Review Cooperation enabled his agency to share non-
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confidential information with other competition agencies investigating the same merger 

transaction.78 Commissioner Boswell spoke about the U.S.-Canada cross-border regional 

partnerships that collaborate cross-border on mass-marketing fraud investigations.79 Sampa also 

noted the importance of regional enforcement networks such as the African trading blocs’ 

regional competition and consumer protection authorities.80

The panelists discussed formal arrangements such as Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) 

and international agreements. They concurred that Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) 

used in criminal matters could be cumbersome and slow, and viewed other agreements as more 

efficient. Commissioner Boswell pointed to the 1995 international agreement on competition 

and deceptive marketing practices between the United States and Canada as a successful “high 

level framework for our positive cooperative relationship.”81 Jean-François Fortin, Executive 

Director of Quebec’s securities authority and chair of the International Organization of Securities 

Commissions (IOSCO) Enforcement and Information Exchange Committee, spoke about the 

IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMOU), which provides the basis for 

enforcement cooperation among securities regulators; the MMOU has 121 of 149 possible 

signatories.82 To join the MMOU, securities authorities must have the legal capacity to share 

confidential information with foreign counterparts as well as the power to compel the production 

of information (such as bank and beneficial ownership records) and obtain testimony for foreign 

regulators.83 In 2017, there were 4,803 requests for assistance under the MMOU.84 Fortin said 

that the MMOU made cooperation “really efficient,” stating, “[o]bviously if you have to go and 

compel information and testimony and documents [it] can take some time, but if you have the 

information, literally, requests for information can be answered within weeks, if not days, and in 

urgent matters, it happens in a few hours.”85

Focusing on legal authority, Commissioner Boswell stressed the importance of having laws that 

allow agencies to work together.86 He described the FTC’s U.S. SAFE WEB Act investigative 

assistance authority as an “incredibly valuable tool” that helped the Competition Bureau obtain 

information for multiple consumer protection matters, including for its litigation involving 

wireless carriers’ deceptive practices in premium text messaging services.87 He highlighted two 

Canadian laws: (i) the Canada Anti-Spam Law, modeled on the U.S. SAFE WEB Act, which 

allows the Bureau to use its investigative powers to assist foreign partners in certain deceptive 

marketing cases without requiring that it have an investigation into the same matter; and (ii) 

Article 29 of the Competition Act, which authorizes the Bureau to share confidential information 

for the administration or enforcement of the Act, even without party waivers.88 Sampa agreed 

that agencies need strong domestic authority, explaining that 20 African agencies had adopted a 

set of principles to facilitate cross-border cooperation – the Livingstone Principles (also based on 

the U.S. SAFE WEB Act) – that recognize agencies’ need for effective enforcement powers.89

The panelists addressed the effect of data protection and privacy laws on information sharing.90 

Both Commissioner Boswell and Sampa described situations when their agencies wanted to 
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either share or obtain information for enforcement purposes but were unable to do so.91 Sampa 

noted that, in certain cases, counterpart agencies had cited privacy laws as a basis not to share 

even non-personal, non-confidential information.92 Fortin explained that IOSCO members faced 

similar challenges in connection with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 

(GDPR).93 In response, IOSCO and the European Securities Market Authority entered into an 

“administrative arrangement” that allows EU authorities to use the GDPR’s “public interest” 

exception to share personal data in securities investigations with non-EU authorities that commit 

to data safeguards.94 Sampa noted that his agency had entered into an MOU with South African 

agencies to enable them to share personal and confidential information.95

Finally, looking to the future, some panelists advocated for better implementation of existing 

tools that facilitate cooperation, including identifying ways to improve their efficiency and 

timeliness.96 Others raised the possibility of the ICN and ICPEN developing new multilateral 

arrangements along the IOSCO MMOU model, or considering pursuing multi-agency joint 

investigations.97 All panelists concurred on the importance of having agencies work together to 

encourage and strengthen cooperation around the world.98
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 2: Consumer Protection 

and Privacy Enforcement Cooperation 

The main theme emerging from this wide-ranging panel was the importance of robust 

enforcement cooperation in tackling technology-enabled consumer frauds, misleading 

commercial practices, and data privacy challenges. The panelists discussed bilateral, 

multilateral, and regional (i.e., European Union and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 

(APEC)) mechanisms, as well as ways to strengthen cooperation.99

James Dipple-Johnstone, Deputy Commissioner of the United Kingdom’s Information 

Commissioner’s Office (ICO), started with privacy enforcement cooperation. He reported that 

the ICO has worked with 50 international counterparts over the past year through information 

and intelligence sharing, staff exchanges, and joint investigations on a “complex and challenging 

caseload” including the Cambridge Analytica investigation.100 Dipple-Johnstone highlighted the 

ICO’s cooperation with the FTC, noting that the agencies had used their respective information 

sharing powers – the FTC’s SAFE WEB Act and the ICO’s Data Protection Act of 2018 (DPA 

2018) – in multiple matters.101 Dipple-Johnstone described the FTC’s SAFE WEB investigative 

assistance provisions, which allow the agency to issue compulsory process on behalf of a foreign 

authority (e.g., robocalls, Ashley Madison) as a “huge positive” for the ICO.102 The FTC’s 

assistance allowed the ICO to “fill in the missing pieces” and helped it “make better 

investigations.”103 Dipple-Johnstone also mentioned the Global Privacy Enforcement Network

(GPEN), the International Conference of Privacy and Data Commissioners (ICPDPC), and the 

Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network, explaining that these networks provide 

participants with a shared understanding that “allows us to do our jobs more effectively.”104

[T]he enforcement power and the international cooperation authority granted to the FTC under 

the SAFE WEB Act are both integral to the functioning of [data transfer] frameworks . . . 

Without them, they would lack legitimacy or credibility.105

–James Sullivan, 

International Trade Administration

James Sullivan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services at the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s International Trade Administration focused on enforcement cooperation within the 

context of the (recently invalidated) EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks and APEC’s Cross 

Border Privacy Rules system (APEC CBPR).106 These frameworks, developed to bridge 

differences in countries’ privacy approaches, facilitate valuable international data flows by 

protecting personal data in accordance with internationally recognized privacy and data 

protection principles.107 Sullivan explained the frameworks include compliance, dispute 
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resolution, and enforcement components; for example, APEC CBPR economies have to join a 

cross-border privacy enforcement arrangement to ensure cooperation and collaboration among 

their designated enforcement authorities.108 Sullivan emphasized that though a company’s 

adherence to the frameworks is voluntary, the FTC may take (and has taken) enforcement action 

against false claims made in connection with either of these frameworks.109 He stated that the 

FTC’s SAFE WEB authority is “integral” to the functioning of these international frameworks, 

noting that it would be difficult to ensure that companies comply with their commitments under 

the three data transfer frameworks without the FTC’s “powers to enforce and coordinate with 

other enforcement agencies cross-border.”110 Sullivan added that business stakeholders, as well 

as foreign governments, want to see “strong frameworks that are actually enforceable, and they 

do want to see . . . greater collaboration because that’s going to lead to more consistent best 

practices or principles and approaches to a lot of these issues . . . .”111

On consumer protection, Marie-Paule Benassi, the Acting Director for Consumer Affairs, DG 

Justice and Consumers, European Commission, discussed coordination among member states 

within the European Union. Although the substance of consumer laws in EU countries is mostly 

“harmonized,” the implementation and enforcement of those laws is not.112 As a result, Benassi 

explained, the European Commission (EC) has traditionally played an important role in 

facilitating bilateral cooperation between member states. More recently, the European Union 

adopted a new Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, which gives the EC a stronger 

coordination role in addressing illegal practices by large companies that operate throughout the 

European Union.113 It has also recently adopted new legislation to permit fines for these types of 

“EU-level infringements.”114 Benassi used the EC’s recent “common position” against the five 

largest car rental companies in the European Union as an example.115 There, the EC, working 

with the member states, analyzed the practices of top five car rental companies, wrote a common 

position asking the companies to change practices, and then obtained negotiated commitments 

from the companies.116

[C]ross-border fraud continues to be a threat to the economic integrity of Canada and the U.S. 

[given how] voice-over-net protocols, social media, virtual currencies, money service 

businesses, and other key facilitators continue to provide criminals . . . opportunities to operate 

across multiple international jurisdictions.117

–Jeff Thomson, 

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Turning to North America, Jeff Thomson, Senior Intelligence Analyst at the Canadian AntiFraud Centre (CAFC) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), highlighted the crossborder strategic partnerships on mass-marketing fraud.118 The partnerships, which date back to 

1997 when cross-border telemarketing fraud became a major concern for the United States and 

Canada, have representatives from civil, criminal, and regulatory agencies such as the FTC, the 
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U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the RCMP, and the Competition Bureau Canada (as well as local 

police and consumer agencies).119 They share intelligence, often from their respective central 

databases (e.g., Consumer Sentinel and the CAFC), coordinate joint priority setting, appoint lead 

agencies for investigations, and identify investigative assistance needs and actions.120 They help 

to establish “common trust and understanding amongst the partners to share information within 

the confines of law” and create “a platform to share and synthesize information from multiple 

perspectives.”121

Thomson also highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding between the FTC and the RCMP

and both agencies’ participation in the International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group.122 

In particular, he emphasized the key role of FTC investigative assistance under the SAFE WEB 

Act for the strategic partnerships, stating, “This [A]ct alone has assisted [the] strategic 

partnerships in countless cases, at least 22 by my count since 2007 . . . .”123 The cooperation in 

these cases helped lead to arrests, civil charges and forfeitures, and restitution and redress for 

consumers in both countries.124

Next, noting that, “investor protection is essentially the same concept [as consumer protection],” 

Kurt Gresenz, the Senior Assistant Director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 

Office of International Affairs (SEC), provided the securities enforcement perspective.125 He 

explained that the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) requires 

securities regulators to have certain minimum powers including the ability to share information 

across borders for enforcement purposes through its Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding 

(MMOU).126 Consistent with the MMOU, the SEC has long had the statutory authority to: (i) 

give access to confidential information to requestors, including foreign agencies, that can 

demonstrate need and the ability to maintain confidentiality; (ii) use the SEC’s compulsory 

process on behalf of a foreign authority (even for conduct that would not violate U.S. law); and 

(iii) provide protections from disclosure for information received from foreign securities 

authorities, including the ability to protect in litigation any material that would be privileged in 

the foreign jurisdiction.127 Most national legislatures in IOSCO member countries have made 

similar amendments to their domestic law to enable them to meet the MMOU standards.128 The 

SEC’s ability to use the MMOU to obtain information for its matters is critical because the SEC 

often investigates entities that are incorporated in two or three different jurisdictions, targeting 

victims in multiple countries (e.g., the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia) and 

storing their documents in the cloud or yet other jurisdictions.129 Indeed, Gresenz indicated that 

the SEC makes around 600-800 of the 5,000 requests processed under the MMOU each year.130

The panelists also discussed challenges to enforcement cooperation, including whether privacy 

laws such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) present barriers. 

Dipple-Johnstone observed that though privacy regulations can impose challenges, there are 

often ways to overcome them.131 He advised agencies to think about “what information do you 

need, how is it going to be transmitted, how is it going to be secured, and what purpose is it 
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going to be used for.”132 Benassi added that it is important to distinguish between privacy 

concerns and the need to maintain the confidentiality of investigative information.133 She 

explained that the GDPR facilitates information exchange within the European Union, and 

opined that the GDPR could be an “enabler” for international cooperation because it clarifies 

what authorities can exchange information, even when that information contains personal 

data.134 Gresenz highlighted the new “administrative arrangement” that IOSCO developed to 

enable the transfer of personal data, consistent with the GDPR, between EU securities authorities 

and other non-EU IOSCO members who join the arrangement.135

Finally, panelists identified additional challenges and some potential solutions. Thomson noted 

that criminal law enforcement authorities often do not prioritize fraud and financial crime.136 He 

suggested focusing on an “intelligence-led” approach to “start driving enforcement action in a 

more targeted and effective manner.”137 He suggested strengthening “disruption” – cooperating 

with private sector partners to block and shut down subscription traps, continuity schemes, and 

counterfeit sales of goods online – internationally.138 Gresenz noted challenges arising from 

jurisdictions that allow for more latitude regarding certain practices or have a more restrictive 

approach to information sharing.139 These differences, which are often exploited by bad actors 

when they choose where to operate or keep their ill-gotten gains, result in investigations that may 

not only move at different paces but lack international cooperation.140 Sullivan observed that 

because it was unlikely that countries would adopt a global standard for data privacy, countries 

could figure out how to make different regimes work together through “flexible” and 

“adapt[able]” approaches like APEC’s interoperability approach – and through interoperability 

between APEC and GDPR.141 Benassi concurred, stating that it would also be difficult to have a 

single, harmonized approach for consumer protection, stating that the way forward could be 

through “practical enforcement tools” like the common action and through high-level 

principles.142 She also noted that the “internationalization” of fraud on the Internet and large 

online platforms is “becoming a very big problem in terms of the harm caused to consumers” and 

suggested prioritizing.143 Benassi also pointed to “new types of misleading practices” arising 

from “data economics,” and suggested building links between competition, data protection, and 

consumer protection to understand potential consumer harm.144 Dipple-Johnstone ended the 

session, noting the need to “support innovation in a practical sense” by keeping updated on the 

“vast changes” in the technology landscape to avoid becoming the “ministries of no.”145 He also 

stressed maintaining the right links internationally and coordinating with domestic authorities 

“so that the offer we can make internationally is the right one.”146
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 3: Competition 

Enforcement Cooperation

Panelists from foreign competition agencies and the private bar offered perspectives on 

enforcement cooperation among competition agencies. Panelists were unanimous in 

emphasizing that competition agencies must prioritize international case cooperation, especially 

given today’s global economy.147 

Panelists agreed that both competition agencies and businesses benefit from case cooperation 

among competition agencies.148 From the agency perspective, case cooperation can encourage 

sharing ideas and approaches, which can lead to a greater understanding of the salient issues, less 

duplication, and greater efficiency.149 Panelists credited case discussions among cooperating 

agencies for streamlining existing investigations and preventing fruitless ones.150 Case 

cooperation can also increase the overall effectiveness of enforcement while decreasing the 

likelihood of conflicting outcomes.151 As Nicholas Banasevic, Head of Unit responsible for 

antitrust in the field of IT, the internet, and consumer electronics at the European Commission’s 

Directorate-General for Competition, observed, cooperation not only “bring[s] organic benefits 

to an . . . individual case,” but also helps generate a more broad-based understanding of policy 

and procedural similarities and differences.152 Likewise, businesses benefit from case 

cooperation because it contributes to more focused, less burdensome investigations, and more 

predictable, consistent, and timely outcomes.153 In her experience, Fiona Schaeffer, a partner at 

Millbank LLP, has found that case cooperation has “expedited, not prolonged, the [agencies’] 

review” and has not “started new lines of attack that didn’t exist before.”154

Enforcers have to respond to the pace of change and globalization by working more closely 

together. . . . We need to do this for three reasons. Firstly, because . . . we will facilitate more 

efficient commerce. Secondly . . . we’ll be more effectively able to police compliance with laws 

in our jurisdiction. And, finally, because we’ve got scarce resources and working together is 

likely to prevent us from reworking issues, from seeking to reinvent the wheel or overlapping 

each other’s work.155

–Marcus Bezzi, 

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Panelists identified specific examples of close case cooperation among competition agencies 

yielding tangible benefits.156 Jeanne Pratt, Senior Deputy Commissioner at the Canadian 

Competition Bureau (CCB), explained that her agency has participated in joint interviews and 

has coordinated with other agencies on remedies.157 Remedy coordination has resulted in the 

CCB’s appointing common monitors with other agencies and even foregoing its own remedies 
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when another agency’s remedies addressed the CCB’s concerns.158 With regard to forbearance, 

Marcus Bezzi, Executive Director at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 

(ACCC), said that his agency also has relied on a foreign agency’s remedy by accepting an 

“enforceable undertaking,” whereby a party commits to the ACCC that it will abide by the 

foreign agency’s remedy.159 Banasevic credited discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice 

during its Microsoft investigation for leading to more complementary remedies, and discussions 

with the FTC relating to standard essential patents contributing to more consistent approaches to 

cases and related policies.160 

Panelists agreed that informal exchanges between agency staff are the most common and useful 

case cooperation tool.161 Those discussions can usually include agency non-public information 

(information that that agencies are not statutorily prohibited from disclosing but normally treat as 

non-public) covering topics like investigative approaches, theories of harm, market definition, 

and a high-level discussion of remedies.162 In many instances, that level of information 

exchange is sufficient.163 However, in some cases agencies may seek waivers of confidentiality 

from the parties to allow more in-depth cooperation, including detailed remedies discussions, in 

order to facilitate a more effective and efficient investigation.164

In addition to informal case cooperation, panelists addressed the role of formal investigative case 

cooperation agreements.165 Several panelists indicated that while formal agreements, such as 

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs), can be theoretically useful, especially when 

materials are only available in another jurisdiction, using some of the existing arrangements can 

be slow and cumbersome.166 Bezzi acknowledged that the U.S.-Australia Mutual Antitrust 

Enforcement Assistance Agreement, which allows the exchange of confidential information and 

the provision of investigative assistance, has rarely been invoked formally.167 Banasevic noted a 

comparable experience with the similar “second-generation” cooperation agreement between the 

European Union and Switzerland.168 But both panelists noted that those agreements had 

nonetheless enabled greater case cooperation, including by encouraging the production of 

documents and/or the provision of waivers.169 As Bezzi explained, the “formal arrangements 

really do enhance the informal.”170

For second-generation cooperation agreements to be more effective, panelists believed that the 

agreements would need to streamline the process for obtaining information and investigative 

assistance from a counterpart agency, including shorter timeframes.171 Bezzi cited the 

International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Multilateral Memorandum of 

Understanding (MMOU) as providing a model for engagement “in days or weeks rather than 

months or years.” 172 He highlighted the value of the U.S.-Australia agreement’s provisions on 

investigative assistance, but agreed that such assistance is more common in consumer protection 

matters, through the U.S. SAFE WEB Act and related statutes.173

Panelists highlighted that regardless of the means, case cooperation relies on establishing trusting 
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relationships between the staffs and senior management at the two cooperating agencies.174 For 

cooperation to be valuable, agencies must be comfortable that their counterparts are honest in 

their communications and will protect the confidentiality of the information they share.175 

Additionally, in cases involving remedy cooperation and comity, agencies must believe that their 

counterparts will enforce their remedies.176 Pratt suggested, however, that case cooperation 

alone may not be enough to build those connections as well as a broader understanding of each 

agency’s framework and approach.177 To accomplish those important goals, she encouraged 

developing deeper interagency ties through staff interactions and joint initiatives outside of the 

context of specific cases, including through joint workshops and staff exchanges.178 

Informal cooperation tools . . . only work if you’ve got trust in the legitimacy, the competence, 

the candor and, frankly, the ethics of your counterparts in the other agency.179

–Jeanne Pratt,

Competition Bureau Canada 

While there was a general appreciation that cooperation benefits both agencies and parties, 

panelists identified several additional areas for improvement. One challenge to further case 

cooperation is the variations in agency processes and timetables that can render coordination, 

especially on remedies, difficult.180 While parties can try to coordinate merger filings to avoid 

this outcome, they may not always succeed.181 Some practitioners also expressed concern that 

case cooperation may result in a longer review if agencies accommodate the schedule of the 

slowest reviewing agency.182 Agencies understand that these issues deserve further attention. 

Another possible hurdle is that while parties commonly grant waivers in merger investigations, 

they are often reluctant to do so in conduct cases.183 Schaeffer explained that parties are 

concerned about providing waivers in conduct cases because of the potential for disclosure and 

greater risk that documents may become available in private litigation through discovery.184 Yet 

some jurisdictions, including the United States, have laws that provide a higher level of 

protection for materials received from other agencies than from parties, which can help alleviate 

this concern.185 Finally, panelists identified duplicative investigations and remedies as 

potentially straining both agency and company resources.186 Agency panelists stressed that 

given limited resources, they are trying their best to avoid unnecessary overlap, including by 

deferring when another agency’s remedy addresses a shared concern, and focusing on issues of 

greatest relevance in their jurisdiction.187 Agencies and parties appear committed to working 

together to develop new case cooperation tools and approaches to ensure effective and efficient 

investigations, including, for example, exploring the possibility of more party discussions 

involving multiple agencies simultaneously rather than the traditional approach where parties 

speak to each agency separately.188
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 4: International 

Engagement and Emerging Technologies: 

Artificial Intelligence Case Study

Recognizing that emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are among the most 

important global developments of our time, a diverse group of experts discussed competition, 

consumer protection, and privacy challenges they can raise. The session used a “case study” 

approach to artificial intelligence to tackle two questions about how the FTC should deal with 

emerging technologies in an international context:

• How can the FTC best work with foreign agencies to develop effective policies on 

competition, consumer protection, and privacy concerning emerging technologies, such as 

AI? What are the challenges?

• From a practical perspective, what are the consequences of having differing approaches 

internationally to competition, consumer protection, and privacy enforcement regarding AI 

and other emerging technologies?

Former FTC Commissioner Julie Brill, now Corporate Vice President and Deputy General 

Counsel for Global Privacy and Regulatory Affairs at Microsoft, introduced the topic by 

emphasizing the importance of building consumer trust in new technologies. She outlined six 

ethical AI principles Microsoft adopted to foster trust: transparency, accountability, fairness, 

reliability and safety, privacy and security, and inclusiveness.189 Brill explained, however, that 

“the issues at stake are simply too large and too important to be left solely to the private sector,” 

and require a new foundation of laws, particularly privacy laws.190

Rapid progress in the field of artificial intelligence has delivered us to the threshold of a new era 

of computing that will transform every field of human endeavor . . . . Yet, history teaches us that 

change of this magnitude has always come with deep doubts and uncertainty.191

–Julie Brill,

Microsoft Corporation

Brill suggested that modern privacy laws must adjust to meet consumers’ needs, embracing the 

reality that “people expect to use digital tools and technologies to engage freely and safely with 

each other . . .” and that they expect “to be empowered to control how their personal information 

is used.”192 Brill explained that achieving a framework of well-designed laws will require the 

FTC and other U.S. government agencies to engage in ongoing discussions and consultations, 

including gatherings such as these hearings, across governments and across sectors.193 She said 
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the new framework should be “embedded at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission,” and address 

AI specifically, for example, by regulations on facial recognition technology.194 

Following Brill’s remarks, panelists provided international perspectives on consumer trust, 

agency expertise, regulation, and international cooperation. Deputy Commissioner of the UK 

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), James Dipple-Johnstone stated that regulators “must 

think about accountability, fairness, and transparency . . . to make sure that our citizens can have 

confidence in the rollout of AI, because if there isn’t confidence, I think that’s where we’re going 

to have challenges.”195

Chinmayi Arun, Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and 

Assistant Professor of Law at the National Law University in Delhi, agreed that consumer trust is 

an important issue. She described the policy debates in India, which serves as a hub for 

numerous global technology companies and produces valuable commercial and state-generated 

data sets. Arun said that there are proposals for a new Indian privacy law containing data 

localization provisions, an amendment to the Information Technology Act, and debates about the 

right to privacy in the context of state surveillance and state protection of the public.196 “[T]he 

big tension really is that, on one hand, the policymakers want to leverage this [AI] and have this 

data and . . . learn from it and, on the other . . . the question of the privacy rights of Indian 

citizens and especially of marginalized citizens, people who are not able to assert their 

[consumer] rights . . . .”197 

Other panelists raised similar concerns. Francis Kariuki, Director General of the Competition 

Authority of Kenya and Chairman of the African Competition Forum discussed AI’s potential 

positive and negative effects on competition and consumer protection in Africa. For example, he 

explained that AI is leading to more efficiency and greater transparency of pricing compared to 

traditional retail sales channels, which could improve consumer choice.198 In Kenya, AI enabled 

the recent expansion of financial services and insurance to people who previously did not have 

access.199 However, there are also potential risks emanating from AI platform design, including 

favoring certain market participants over others.200 

The panelists stressed the need for interdisciplinary collaboration among domestic and 

international agencies on research and policy development. Dipple-Johnstone emphasized that it 

is crucial that regulators keep up to date and work with others, within their own countries and 

internationally, as they face common issues.201 Marcela Mattiuzzo, a partner at VMCA 

Advogados in Brazil, reported that Brazil’s CADE, together with agencies from other BRICS 

countries, is engaged in a broad study of the digital economy.202 
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[T]his was really a strong message for the government that was negotiating . . . on privacy that 

maybe there was a competitive issue, maybe privacy is good and [to] be protected, but beware of 

the way you do it.203

–Isabelle de Silva,

Autorité de la concurrence 

Isabelle de Silva, President and Member of the Board of the French competition agency, Autorité 

de la concurrence, reinforced the need for agencies to invest in understanding how data, artificial 

intelligence, and algorithms affect the competitive process. She described her agency’s use of 

sectoral inquiries, hearings and conferences, and joint studies with other agencies – including 

one on closed ecosystems with the UK Competition and Markets Authority and another on big 

data with Germany’s Bundeskartellamt – to enhance the Autorité’s understanding.204 Echoing 

Mattiuzzo’s identification of the cross-cutting impact of AI, de Silva described a program 

developed in France that connects her agency with privacy, telecommunications, and media 

regulators to exchange knowledge and ideas about AI.205 She pointed also to work in the OECD 

and ICN on digital issues.206 In a separate joint research project with the German competition 

agency, the Autorité is researching whether algorithms could have an anticompetitive impact; the 

project examines questions of detection, enforcement, and the feasibility of an effects-based 

analysis.207

Omer Tene, Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer of the International Association of 

Privacy Professionals, Affiliate Scholar at Stanford University, and Senior Fellow at the Future 

of Privacy Forum, added an industry perspective to the discussion. He highlighted the 

challenges of regulating complex technology that even some AI creators cannot explain fully, 

calling this the “black box issue, the explainability, transparency problem.”208 Tene also 

suggested that regulators need to start thinking about group privacy and not necessarily 

individual privacy – i.e., where groups are affected by certain health-related, financial, and other 

AI models or systems.209

Panelists discussed areas of research that could aid in the understanding of the challenges and the 

opportunities presented by these new and emerging technologies.210 Panelists turned to a 

discussion of the GDPR, with Dipple-Johnstone noting that while it helps move the law in the 

right direction, there are differences in interpretation among EU member states.211 He called for 

“innovation with privacy, not innovation versus privacy,” and opined that “companies will want 

to develop these systems as will governments to help them make efficient use of their data sets 

and their technologies. But it’s how that’s done responsibly with accountability and 

transparency.”212

The panel concluded with a discussion of cooperation and convergence in addressing AI. 

Dipple-Johnstone pointed to the work of the ICDPPC and their Declaration on Ethics and Data 
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Protection in AI as a move towards convergence.213 He cautioned that cooperation, despite 

abundant goodwill, is a challenge and stressed the importance of cross-sector cooperation both 

within each country and internationally.214 Kariuki noted a “convergence in the problems which 

are facing us,” namely discrimination, access to markets, information asymmetry for both 

consumers and competing firms, data privacy, and data portability.215 Mattiuzzo outlined 

potential difficulties in attaining international convergence, or a policy that unites the many 

fields of law that are connected to AI, including antitrust, consumer protection, and privacy. She 

noted that Brazil adopted new data protection legislation in August 2018 that touches upon many 

AI issues. 216 She also noted that because much of the technology in question is used globally, 

laws addressing issues in one jurisdiction could affect market practices elsewhere, potentially 

contributing to greater convergence, and offered the example of convergence on procedural 

issues in the antitrust world as a possible starting point for AI.217 De Silva praised FTC-EC 

cooperation on cases and proposed more coordination and sharing related to sectoral inquiries. 

She highlighted the participation of the business community and companies that adopted the 

GDPR.218 Tene noted that companies seek uniform standards that can be adopted globally 

because multiple and potentially conflicting regulations across jurisdictions may require 

businesses to design multiple systems, frameworks, and products and “break the internet into a 

splinternet.”219 He called for a joint effort to implement policy choices through “mapping data 

flows and doing risk assessments and imposing accountability requirements and data 

governance, so that new technologies are used not only to infringe on but also to protect 

privacy.”220
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REMARKS BY COMMISSIONER NOAH PHILLIPS

FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips opened day two of hearings on the FTC’s role in a changing 

world. He began by noting that the FTC’s international efforts – both antitrust and consumer 

protection – are critical not only to the agency’s success, but are “important to the United States 

and to the well-being of consumers around the globe.”221

Commissioner Phillips explained that the FTC’s mission as a consumer protection, privacy, and 

antitrust agency has international ramifications. He cited the need to work with international 

partners to bring enforcement actions that end cross border scams, frauds, and other activities 

that harm consumers.222 He expressed a desire to see the FTC continue to work towards the 

interoperability of data privacy regimes that support privacy and the benefits that consumers 

derive from international data flows.223 On competition enforcement, he explained the need for 

close enforcement cooperation with foreign counterparts to share information and avoid 

impairing each other’s ability to vindicate domestic antitrust laws.224 Given these ramifications, 

Commissioner Phillips emphasized the need to have strong tools that enable cooperation and 

coordination. Most notably, he stressed the importance of renewing and making permanent the 

U.S. SAFE WEB Act, a critical tool that the FTC uses to work with its international partners.225 

He noted the importance of active FTC participation in organizations like the OECD and the 

International Competition Network to engage in substantive discussions, share our experiences, 

and shape the development of international best practices.226

Close enforcement cooperation and strong international relationships are integral to the FTC’s 

mission in a global economy. Commissioner Phillips explained that unwarranted inconsistencies 

in parallel enforcement actions could raise serious concerns and undermine shared global efforts 

to protect competition and consumers.227 He cited procedural differences that can lead to due 

process concerns and divergent policies abroad that dilute promoting competition for other 

values like supporting national champions as potential impediments to sound enforcement, 

robust international commerce, and ultimately economic growth.228

Contemplating the FTC’s dedication to and leadership in international consumer protection, 

privacy, and competition initiatives, Commissioner Phillips concluded, “[o]ur reputation as 

thoughtful, rigorous enforcers depends on our continued commitment to bring solid cases, 

following due process, and advocating domestically and globally.”229
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 5: Implications of 

Different Legal Traditions and Regimes for 

International Cooperation

In today’s interconnected world, enforcement agencies in different countries with diverse 

institutional and legal systems often confront similar issues, for example, in reviewing a global 

merger, dealing with trans-national-border fraud, or privacy rights involving data transferred 

across borders. This panel examined differences in domestic legal traditions and institutional 

design affecting competition, consumer protection, and data protection agencies, the implications 

of those differences for cooperation, and whether and how those differences may be narrowing. 

Panelists also offered recommendations for how the FTC could address some of these 

differences.

In his introductory remarks, Roger Alford, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. 

Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, laid the foundation for the panel discussion by 

recognizing that it is important for effective international cooperation that agencies better 

understand the legal context in which their counterpart agencies operate.230 He explained that 

differences in laws and procedures “can be noteworthy, and these differences also can have a real 

impact on decision-making by agencies in their respective systems.”231 For example, Alford 

noted that agencies in administrative systems based on civil law often have greater discretion 

over the types of evidence considered.232 He observed that while enforcement decisions in both 

systems are typically subject to court review, differences in agency burdens of proof and 

standards of review can lead to different dynamics in enforcement decisions.233 In particular, he 

highlighted that civil law courts tended to be more deferential to administrative agencies, which 

“on the margins . . . tends to create a lower threshold for bringing enforcement actions.”234 

Despite these differences as well as others, Alford found that agencies regularly reach common 

ground on fundamental issues of antitrust enforcement. He closed with an example of successful 

international cooperation across different systems, identifying recent multilateral work on due 

process in competition law investigations as reflecting the growing consensus among 

competition agencies regarding the importance of due process protections and sound 

procedures.235

There is nothing inherently wrong [with different legal systems and approaches], but 

recognizing these differences will help agencies in different systems better understand each 

other. Indeed, having different systems in place, which may at times reach different results, 

creates incentives for agencies to critically assess their own work.236

–Roger Alford, 

U.S. Department of Justice
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Panelists agreed that although agencies often pursue the same overarching goals, differences in 

legal regimes and structure can affect case and policy outcomes.237 They recognized that 

understanding these differences and the impact they may have on process and outcomes can play 

an important role in facilitating interagency cooperation.238 Panelists identified a range of 

sources for these differences. Some involve broad, fundamental differences in legal systems, 

such as whether a country has adopted a common or civil law system.239 Constitutional 

provisions can also come into play. For example, Christopher Yoo, Professor at the University 

of Pennsylvania Law School, noted that constitutional variance may have contributed to 

differences in privacy protections in the United States and the European Union, as the latter’s 

right to be forgotten rules may not be consistent with the First Amendment to the U.S. 

Constitution.240

Differences can also arise at a more granular level, such as whether agencies operate under a 

prosecutorial, inquisitorial, or administrative model.241 Several speakers focused on how 

variations in evidentiary and procedural differences, often attributable to agency institutional 

design and rules, may affect case outcomes. Yoo contended that certain legal systems, including 

many administrative or inquisitorial systems, limit or preclude cross examination, the direct 

questioning of witnesses, and the submission of counter evidence, potentially hampering the 

target’s ability to present a full defense.242

The fundamental differences that affect enforcement agencies are the institutional constraints in 

which they operate.243

 –Angela Zhang,

University of Hong Kong and King’s College London

Another source of difference may be rules governing the agencies themselves. For example, 

Angela Zhang, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong and Senior Lecturer 

at King’s College London, described how the absence of procedural rules governing disclosures 

at a former Chinese competition agency resulted in few legal challenges to the agency’s 

enforcement.244 The agency would engage in a strategic public-shaming campaign against target 

companies to pressure them to cooperate and quickly settle matters.245 By contrast, in Europe, 

recent changes to agency procedural rules have increased opportunities for legal challenges to 

agency decisions.246 Those modifications include greater defense rights as well as providing 

private parties with the ability to obtain judicial review of an EC decision to close a case.247 As 

Yoo noted, though, the latter may have unintended consequences in terms of the sufficiency of 

proof in borderline cases.248

Speakers agreed that the role of the courts and the standard of legal review affect agency 

outcomes and decision-making.249 Several speakers posited that courts may be more deferential 

when reviewing decisions by administrative agencies – with the burden on the target to show that 
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the agency made an error of law or fact – than when adjudicating cases where the agency is the 

plaintiff and must directly prove its case in the first instance.250 Differences in judicial tradition, 

including historical regard for state actors, may also contribute to the level of deference accorded 

to an agency’s actions.251 Zhang cited research showing that judges from countries with an 

administrative law system influenced by the French model are more likely to decide competition 

cases in line with the EC than are judges from other countries.

252

Consistent with Zhang’s observation, Yoo described how variations in legal education may 

affect how lawyers and courts engage with different types of evidence, including economics.253 

In the United States, lawyers first pursue an undergraduate degree in any available subject before 

attending law school, but in most of the world, legal education is an undergraduate course of 

study.254 As a result, Yoo believed that lawyers outside the United States may have less 

exposure to subjects other than law, potentially rendering them less comfortable with 

interdisciplinary thinking and more skeptical of non-legal concepts.255 This may be exacerbated 

because in many countries lawyers become judges shortly after qualifying as a lawyer.256 He 

attributed these differences to the reluctance of courts in some countries to grapple with 

economic concepts that have become central to modern competition analysis.257

Participants also recognized that regulatory style and culture, which are often a product of the 

broader legal setting, can influence agency behavior and outcomes. For example, Francesca 

Bignami, Professor of Law at the George Washington Law School, explained that consumer 

protection policy in the United States has typically been made by enforcement-minded agencies 

or even through decisions in private legal disputes.258 By contrast, consumer protection policy in 

many other economically advanced countries has historically resulted from a system that favored 

agreement between the parties, with agencies operating more like an ombudsman.259 Rather than 

bring enforcement actions, those agencies focused on “compliance-oriented mediation” and 

resolving complaints.260 These different approaches sometimes yielded disparate outcomes and 

may have hampered cooperation efforts.261 Zhang noted that in China there is a culture favoring 

consensus within the government to ensure sign-off at the top.262 She indicated that this culture 

often requires Chinese competition enforcers to consult with multiple agencies and stakeholders, 

which can allow non-competition factors to enter into the competition analysis.263

Despite these many sources of potential divergence, participants generally agreed that 

differences have narrowed in recent years. One source of convergence has been the adoption by 

various competition and consumer protection agencies of a more enforcement-oriented approach. 

For example, Bignami observed that the trend toward agencies adopting similar strategic 

deterrence-oriented approaches along with greater reliance on independent enforcement agencies 

could facilitate greater cooperation and convergence.

264 She sees this trend developing in the 

area of data protection, in particular, as data protection agencies adopt more enforcement-minded 

approaches.

265 Philip Marsden, Professor of Law and Economics at the College of Europe, 

cautioned, however, that disparate enforcement approaches, especially regarding new 
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technologies, can be as relevant as differences in laws, and may lead to divergence.266

Panelists also identified greater respect for due process and transparency as areas of increasing 

convergence.267 Bignami provided an example of the French data protection authority, the 

CNIL, enhancing due process protections and opportunities for defendants so that it could 

effectively exercise new enforcement powers.268 Courts, including in Europe, are also playing a 

significant role by adopting these reforms.269 Despite recent improvement, Yoo emphasized the 

need to continue to encourage agencies to enhance their procedural due process rules.270

Panelists placed a premium on agency transparency. Transparency not only leads to greater 

convergence but can also contribute to what Marsden described as “informed divergence” where 

the reasons for disparate outcomes, including whether those differences were the product of 

different legal systems and rules, would be understood.271 Greater transparency would allow 

other agencies to study and emulate more successful models.272 As Bignami commented, “one 

very productive way to engage with our foreign partners is to experiment . . . with different 

methods and different policy aims and different ways of accomplishing the very same goals.”273

Panelists also offered several suggestions for the FTC. Zhang encouraged the FTC, when 

engaging with foreign agencies, to take more of a “bottom-up approach” in order to “really 

understand the institutional actors and their incentives” outside of its counterpart agencies (e.g., 

the courts).274 Yoo urged the FTC to continue its important work both bilaterally and 

multilaterally to help agencies develop their technical capabilities and procedural practices 

through guidance and best practices. Regarding procedural protections, he recommended that 

the FTC target situations when a country is reforming its agency structure or evaluating its 

procedures, and suggested framing procedural reforms as broader issues of sound administrative 

law and good government rather than strictly competition and/or consumer protection 

concerns.275 Marsden opined that the FTC could play a significant role in addressing substantive 

divergence.276 To promote greater understanding and convergence, he urged the FTC to be 

bolder, to be even more transparent, and to use its range of tools, from market studies to 

enforcement, to help other agencies make educated decisions about how best to tackle policy and 

enforcement challenges in a fundamentally sound way.277
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REMARKS BY COMMISSIONER CHRISTINE 

WILSON

FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson provided a perspective on the evolution of international 

organizations and the benefits of international engagement. She noted that multilateral 

competition organizations play an important role in promoting sound policy approaches, and are 

important fora for the FTC to engage with counterpart agencies to discuss important issues. 

Commissioner Wilson identified several jurisdictions that are considering “whether and how to 

revise the antitrust laws, particularly as they apply to the digital economy.”278 She pointed to 

calls for “big changes from wide-ranging structural and behavioral remedies to changes in the 

underlying goals of antitrust law.”279 Referring to questions regarding whether to abandon the 

focus on consumer welfare in favor of considering additional policies, abandoning reliance on 

economic principles, and returning to mechanical rules to judge the legality of mergers, 

Commissioner Wilson rejected each of these proposals.280

Commissioner Wilson emphasized that it is important to discuss these issues with international 

partners, and found that interactions with sister agencies, bilaterally and in multilateral 

organizations, have the benefit of focusing each agency’s analysis and “identify[ing] areas for 

collaboration, and, if appropriate, convergence.”281 She noted the success of the International 

Competition Network and her confidence in the “ability of the international antitrust community, 

including the many bilateral relationships and multilateral institutions, to examine these 

important questions in a constructive way.”282 Commissioner Wilson concluded by praising the 

FTC’s International Affairs Office’s international work on competition, consumer protection, 

and data privacy issues, including through its bilateral relations, its work in multilateral 

organizations, and its Technical Assistance and International Fellows programs.283
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 6: Promoting Sound 

Policies for the Next Decade

This panel focused on ways to develop coherent policies that protect consumers and promote 

competition while preserving the benefits of global commerce. Following introductory remarks 

by Commissioner Christine Wilson, panelists debated the advantages and disadvantages of soft 

law (e.g., best practices, guiding principles) versus hard law (e.g., laws and treaties) approaches, 

compared multinational and bilateral approaches, and discussed the role of technical assistance 

in policy development. 

Teresa Moreira, Head of the Competition and Consumer Policies Branch of the United Nations 

Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), provided an international organization 

perspective on policy development.284 She highlighted two UN documents, the United Nations 

Set of Competition Principles and Rules on Competition and the United Nations Guidelines for 

Consumer Protection.285 Both instruments provide consensual, non-binding policy frameworks 

for developing economies and economies in transition and “underline the importance of 

cooperation, obviously at the international level but also at regional and bilateral level, and not 

only in the framework of formal international or regional organizations but also through informal 

networks across the world.”286 Moreira emphasized that sound policies should “identify best 

practices and promote and lead to the exchange of information and experiences, fostering mutual 

learning . . . and promoting . . . convergence or organization.”287

At its best, we believe soft law combines the expertise of stakeholders from around the world to 

define agreed principles and best practices . . . . [I]n today’s world where markets are 

increasing[ly] connected across borders and many countries face the same challenges, this is 

particularly important.288

–Justin Macmullan, 

Consumers International

The discussion then focused on the merits of soft versus hard law approaches to policy 

harmonization. Justin Macmullan, the Acting Co-Director General of Consumers International, 

highlighted the importance of soft law both for influencing global ideas and for providing a 

framework for national legislation and regulation.289 Though some may fear soft law as leading 

to the “lowest common denominator,” Macmullan maintained that it retains its flexibility to “aim 

high” precisely because it’s not binding.290 Moreira agreed that soft law can be “ambitious,” 

noting that soft law tends to highlight the most advanced jurisdictions’ “success stories.”291 She 

said that guidelines at the UN and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 

(OECD), and discussions at the World Trade Organization, contributed to the increase in 

competition laws from a dozen jurisdictions to over 130, including in developing countries.292 
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Macmullan said that for fast-changing issues emerging in the digital economy, soft law 

developed by international organizations can be an interim way to provide guidance while 

countries are developing more formal regulation.293 Moreira added that soft law could also 

combine with hard law initiatives through bilateral and regional partnerships.294 

Macmullan noted, however, that it can be difficult to monitor and measure the impact of soft 

law. He also said that the “development of international soft law needs to stay ahead of the 

curve . . . to remain relevant, helping authorities and other actors to tackle new and emerging 

issues so that consumers do not have to deal with the risks themselves.”295 Macmullan also 

identified challenges in the “ability to translate high-level international principles for national 

systems and real-world markets . . . particularly where resources are limited and frameworks and 

institutions are either new or haven’t been established.”296 Still, he said that, in the consumer 

protection area, if “we were talking about hard law, then what we would achieve would be far 

less than the . . . high standards that we were aiming for.”297

Professor Daniel J. Solove from George Washington University Law School echoed these 

themes in the context of privacy and data security policy. He noted the key role of the FTC, 

which turned what was “a rather toothless self-regulatory” soft law approach based on 

companies’ privacy promises into something that started to have “teeth” by challenging 

companies that broke their promises to protect the public’s personal information.298 Solove 

observed that this was a hybrid approach in that companies still had leeway in deciding what 

they promised but that the FTC hardened this approach by enforcing privacy promises.299 

Solove nonetheless cautioned that soft law approaches had their limits. Contrasting the global 

leadership of the United States on privacy laws during the 1970’s and beyond with Congress’s 

“largely quiet” stance today, Solove observed that the rest of the world has “taken charge of 

privacy.”300 He singled out the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), 

a comprehensive privacy law with significant extraterritorial reach and severe penalties, as the 

“global standard” that is serving as a “model” for the rest of the world.301 Solove observed that 

global companies now look to the European Union as their regulator and build their privacy 

programs to comply with the GDPR.302 He pointed, nonetheless, to the FTC’s development of a 

“considerable body of jurisprudence” on privacy issues and data security through consent 

decrees and enforcement actions under Section 5 of the FTC Act, “which has the broadest 

jurisdiction of any type of law that we have to regulate privacy and security.”303 Solove stated 

that “if the U.S. wants to take a leadership role . . . the FTC has to step up and has to play that 

role.”304

John Pecman, former Commissioner of the Canadian Competition Bureau and now Senior 

Business Advisor at Fasken, highlighted the Bureau’s work with bilateral and multilateral soft 

law approaches to further international convergence. He cited bilateral approaches including the 

Bureau’s alignment of its merger review processes with those of the United States and the 

development of voluntary best practices with bilateral partners. He then addressed the Bureau’s 
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engagement in multilateral fora, such as International Consumer Protection and Enforcement 

Network (ICPEN), International Competition Network (ICN), and OECD, noting the Bureau’s 

ICN leadership to “promote a normative approach to economic analysis for determining 

anticompetitive harm.”305 Pecman said that agencies had made “significant progress . . . through 

soft convergence” and raised some ideas for further improvements, such as creating a permanent 

ICN secretariat to aid compliance with international best practice standards.306 He added, 

however, that “the dual drivers of globalization and the new digital economy in conjunction with 

populism have increased tensions . . . among competition agenc[ies] and the risk of divergent 

approaches to competition law.”307 Asserting that “the time . . . is ripe for considering new 

approaches,”308 Pecman identified a range of options and advocated for a Mutual Assistance 

Agreement that would permit the Canadian and U.S. antitrust agencies to share confidential 

information in non-criminal matters.309 He cited tools such as the multilateral cooperation 

instruments used by International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the 

possibility of joint investigative teams.310 He also noted more aggressive approaches such as the 

extraterritorial application of competition laws and use of international trade agreements.311

Abbott “Tad” Lipsky, Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia 

Law School, stated that a broad variety of approaches would be needed to achieve the best 

economic outcomes for consumers globally. He noted that multilateral organizations like the 

OECD and the ICN are very helpful when the government or competition agencies have 

common interests, for example, in establishing professional connections, reducing the potential 

for conflict in decisions in cases, and supporting new competition agencies in adopting and 

enforcing effective competition law regimes.312 In contrast, he asserted that multilateral 

organizations and binding multilateral agreements were not well suited to reducing the 

complexities of antitrust compliance for business, expunging protectionist laws, or assuring due 

process when the change needed for convergence to good practice is contrary to the interests of 

some governments and competition agencies.313 Thus, he stated that “the world is not yet ready 

and possibly will never be ready for a binding global approach to competition law 

convergence.”314 Instead, he advocated for developing solutions to some of the most complex 

questions of international antitrust policy by beginning with bilateral approaches, including 

through binding agreements. He suggested agreeing on “gold standard[s]” among like-minded 

agencies, and then “build[ing] out from there” as a way to encourage policy and process 

convergence.315 

With regard to the relative advantages of multilateral and bilateral approaches, Moreira noted the 

need for multinational frameworks to address global challenges but recognized that “like minded 

countries” can be more ambitious as they share similar standards and systems and have close 

trade and economic relationships.316 Pablo Trevisán, a Commissioner of Argentina’s National 

Commission for the Defense of Competition, spoke to the advantages of both approaches.317 He 

explained that Argentina “is rebuilding the [competition] house while living in it.”318 He said 

that multilateral organizations like the OECD, ICN, and UNCTAD have helped his agency learn 
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and that bilateral cooperation has also been very important.319 Trevisán identified a mix of 

components as necessary for effective competition law and policy – an independent authority, 

due process, and interaction between domestic competition, consumer protection, privacy, and 

sectoral authorities, as well as international authorities and multilateral organizations.320

[Technical assistance] is extremely important because we, through these activities, are really 

able to promote sound policies . . . . [W]e advise on adopting and revising laws and on the 

strengthening of capacities and setting up of institutions to actually implement them . . . . The 

FTC has played a major role in both polic[y] fields in our technical assistance projects.321

–Teresa Moreira, 

UNCTAD

Finally, panelists turned to the benefits of technical assistance in developing and harmonizing 

policy approaches. Moreira noted that technical cooperation helps the United Nations promote 

sound policies and can promote convergence and build trust.322 Trevisán noted that the U.S. 

agencies were the first to come to Argentina when it was rebuilding its competition agency, and 

had helped it shape its work, including through training and workshops.323 Pecman observed 

that such programs require funding but that less formal arrangements through staff exchanges 

and visits can also deepen ties and help shape policy and procedures in the other jurisdiction.324 

He recommended more coordination to ensure that technical assistance providers avoid 

duplicating each other’s efforts.325 Solove advocated for the United States to take more of a 

leading role in promoting its approaches to privacy, which in some instances are more workable 

than the GDPR.326 He urged the United States “to plausibly step forward and present something 

on our behalf” about how the U.S. approach addresses many of the issues that are key to privacy 

and data security protection worldwide.327
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 7: Effective International 

Engagement: Foreign Agency Perspectives

This panel showcased the views of senior officials from foreign competition, consumer 

protection, and data protection authorities on international engagement. Speakers shared their 

experience regarding what has proven successful and areas for improvement, focusing on the 

interrelated elements of cooperation on individual cases, broader engagement, and technical 

assistance and capacity-building efforts.328

Panelists agreed that both bilateral relationships and multilateral interactions among authorities 

are important to effective international engagement and cooperation.329 They indicated that 

bilateral relationships can be facilitated in different ways – for example, agreements and MOUs 

are helpful to fostering bilateral relations and case cooperation, while technical assistance is

valuable for developing relations with less experienced agencies and promoting convergence 

toward sound practice and policy.330 Paula Farani de Azevedo Silveira, a Commissioner of 

Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), noted that CADE benefited 

from technical assistance from experienced agencies, which helped CADE mature to the point 

that it is now able to provide assistance to less experienced agencies.331 Stephen Wong, 

Commissioner of the Hong Kong Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, also 

stated that informal, ad hoc bilateral arrangements and approaches can be useful.332 The 

panelists agreed on the importance of multilateral engagement to facilitating cooperation, citing 

organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 

International Competition Network (ICN), and Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), as 

well as regional cooperation bodies such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 

the European Union, and the African Dialogue.333 

Panelists focused on the role of regional relationships in facilitating ties among agencies, 

including building relations necessary for case cooperation, general experience-sharing, and 

capacity building.334 Han Li Toh, CEO and Commissioner of the Competition and Consumer 

Commission of Singapore, said that assistance from the ASEAN regional free trade agreement’s 

Competition Law Implementation Program, which is supported by Australia and New Zealand, 

has been extremely useful to his agency.335 Some panelists noted benefits from ties between 

agencies in countries at a similar level of economic development.336 For example, Azevedo cited 

the extensive interaction that has developed among competition enforcers in the BRICS countries 

in recent years.337 

Turning to how to effectuate successful international engagement, panelists praised the value of 

interagency staff contact in the context of both specific case cooperation and general experience 

sharing.338 Regarding case cooperation, Rainer Wessely, of the Delegation of the European 

Union to the United States, noted that an agency’s staff must be able to identify cases with 
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international ramifications and then understand the cooperation process well enough to ensure 

that it is successfully carried out.339 This requires adequate awareness, training, and support 

within an agency.340 Panelists stressed the value of interactions among staff that are addressing 

similar industries or types of cases to discuss their experience. Examples of such engagement 

within the European Competition Network and the BRICS association were identified as 

fostering dialogue within these groups, which fed into broader multilateral engagement.341 

Panelists also highlighted how direct staff exchanges and placements can promote such 

interaction, enhance cooperation and convergence, and build agency capacity.342 

[W]hat really brings more knowledge to CADE is having the people that are working on the 

cases meet with the people that are working on cases in other jurisdictions.343

–Paula Farani de Azevedo Silveira,

CADE

Panelists also consistently noted that their agency’s international engagement directly benefits 

domestic consumers and domestic priorities.344 Chris Warner, Legal Director for the UK 

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), explained that competition and consumer protection 

agencies “wouldn’t be doing [their] job properly . . . if we’re not thinking about international 

dimensions.”345 Additionally, he noted that an agency’s domestic priorities often drive its 

international engagement because the areas of greatest domestic focus and experience are the 

very issues where agencies have the most to share with their sister agencies.346 Panelists 

recognized that case cooperation is enhanced by greater interactions with sister agencies, 

including discussing common issues, sharing best practices, and learning from others’ 

experiences and thinking. This contributes to increased detection and enforcement – especially 

important in today’s highly integrated world and helps in other ways. For example, Azevedo 

explained that interaction with foreign counterparts had helped her agency make sound 

enforcement decisions that “minimize[d] . . . growing pains” that could have proven “very costly 

to the [Brazilian] economy.”347 Both Toh and Tunde Irukera, Director General of Nigeria’s new 

Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, stressed that the experience of 

foreign agencies with dual competition and consumer protection authority has been crucial to 

their agencies’ successful integration of additional legal and subject-matter authority.348 

Azevedo also provided a helpful example of using OECD peer review and international 

benchmarking to support domestic legislative changes.349 

While identifying the many benefits of international cooperation, panelists noted several 

challenges. These included obstacles to information sharing among agencies, often because of 

confidentiality, data protection, or data localization rules, as a challenge or impediment to 

effective enforcement cooperation.350 They identified the potential for “second-generation” 

cooperation agreements to help overcome these issues and strengthen cooperation by allowing 

more detailed information and evidence sharing.351 Wessely indicated that the European Union 
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was building on the success of its second-generation agreement with Switzerland by negotiating 

similar agreements with Japan and Canada.352 Some agencies, including Hong Kong’s data 

protection agency, sometimes rely on ad hoc arrangements on specific cases to permit greater 

cooperation with counterpart agencies.353 

Panelists also observed that divergence in domestic laws, analytical approaches, and legal 

systems, as well as priorities, can make cooperation more difficult.354 While there may be few 

short-term fixes for these issues, several panelists believed that differences could be minimized 

by focusing on the common harm resulting from the problematic behavior rather than, for 

example, differences in the definition of legal infringements.355 Similarly, Warner noted that 

differences can sometimes be more readily overcome when addressed directly in the context of 

case cooperation rather than in the abstract.356 Specifically, he cited European and international 

consumer protection agencies “sweeps,” where agencies work through the stages of a 

complicated case together, identifying common ground, potential differences, and solutions, as 

“fertile ground for working together and sharing knowledge and developing . . . new 

practices.”357

[F]or the CMA, being a joint competition and consumer protection authority . . . when presented 

with a new difficult issue we naturally think about it from both sides of the coin. And I think it’s 

important that we try to replicate that on . . . [an] international dimension.358

–Chris Warner, 

UK CMA

Looking to the future, some panelists believed that more emphasis should be placed on 

examining issues from both the consumer protection and competition perspectives. They noted 

that this was especially relevant for digital economy issues, which often implicate both areas.359 

For example, Warner identified how the CMA recently presented a policy paper on personalized 

pricing to both the OECD’s consumer protection and competition committees and encouraged 

them to discuss it together.360 When asked if there are improvements that the FTC might make 

to its international tools and program, the panelists commended the FTC for its leadership in 

international organizations and its engagement and cooperation with other agencies.361 As 

Wessely noted, the FTC is seen as “the role model for international cooperation.”362 In 

particular, panelists cited the FTC’s engagement and leadership in the ICN as well as the breadth 

of its technical assistance and capacity building programs.363 

Panelists offered several suggestions for future steps. Azevedo noted that Brazil had entered into 

a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with the United States covering detailed information 

sharing in criminal matters, but would benefit from a similar arrangement in the civil context.364 

Toh appreciated the FTC’s increased engagement in the ASEAN region, and looked forward to 

additional regional opportunities for partnership.365 Irukera cautioned that agencies such as the 
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FTC should be careful not to substitute regional for bilateral engagement, stressing that both are 

important.366 Warner suggested that agencies use their tools such as the CMA’s and FTC’s 

market studies powers, which can promote a broad understanding of markets and provide 

valuable insights that can contribute to the international discussion.367 Finally, all panelists 

identified the importance of continued international engagement.
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REMARKS BY JAMES RILL

“We don’t know where we can go unless we know where we’ve been.”368 James Rill, Senior 

Counsel at Baker Botts LLP and former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. 

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, set the stage for a lively panel discussion on the FTC’s 

role in a changing world by describing the many policy and substantive contributions of the FTC 

to the field of competition and consumer protection. He then identified challenges ahead of the 

FTC and other federal agencies in cooperation and enforcement, offering suggestions for both 

international and domestic cooperation.

Rill lauded the work of the Commission in the International Competition Network (ICN) and the 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in developing a set of 

antitrust enforcement guidelines on policy, procedure, transparency, and engagement that “is a 

real contribution to international cooperation.”369 He noted that the FTC and the DOJ played an 

active role negotiating competition chapters in proposed U.S. trade agreements such as the U.S.-

Mexico-Canada Agreement and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.370

Addressing the FTC’s Technical Assistance Program, Rill recalled its origins in the 1990s when 

the FTC and the DOJ conducted joint missions in newly emerging market systems in Central and 

Eastern Europe.371 Rill strongly recommended the continuation of technical assistance programs 

and urged the FTC to consider more joint work with the DOJ that draws on the skills and 

expertise of both agencies.372

Looking to the future, Rill called on the antitrust agencies to shift some of the current focus on 

procedure and “evangelize on substance.”373 He urged the FTC to continue to promote sound 

consumer welfare-based antitrust principles through international organizations like the ICN and 

the OECD, its technical assistance program, and cooperative work with the DOJ and other U.S. 

government agencies.374

[E]qually important [as international cooperation] in the international field is the issue of 

cooperation across the panoply of . . . Federal Government [agencies] that have a particular 

expertise and have much to offer in those areas that can affect and influence and promote sound 

antitrust enforcement.375

–James Rill, 

Baker Botts LLP

In the ICN and the OECD, Rill urged the FTC to put more “gravitas” behind guidance 

documents by converting them into best practice documents.376 He suggested that the antitrust 

community seriously consider measuring whether agencies are following existing guidance and 

(future) best practices.377 Rill envisages a role for the FTC in working with other agencies to 
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develop a system for measuring accountability and adherence to guidance and best practices 

documents, such as the ICN’s due process recommendations, through a system that relies on the 

power of reputational effect rather than on sanctions.378 

Rill suggested that another way to promote the consumer welfare model and address 

anticompetitive practices by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and resurgent support for national 

champions would be for the FTC and the DOJ to work to form an ICN working group that 

focuses on SOEs and state-supported enterprises.379 

Turning to international cooperation issues, Rill identified the 2017 FTC-DOJ Antitrust 

Guidelines for International Enforcement and Cooperation as providing a basis for the agencies 

to engage in general discussions of a matter with a foreign authority that has an open 

investigation, even if the agencies do not.380 

Rill described domestic cooperation as “a challenge and something that’s vitally needed in the 

21st Century,” for example where the FTC and the DOJ work with non-antitrust agencies of the 

U.S. government. 381 Acknowledging the possible reservations based on his experience working 

with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, he suggested that the U.S. antitrust agencies 

can learn from other U.S. agencies’ industry expertise and insight into matters of, for example, 

national security.382 While Rill did not support creating a cabinet-level committee for antitrust 

policy proposed in a Chamber of Commerce report, he stated that, “[w]hatever decisions are 

being made on antitrust, [the agencies] should have a seat at the table to explore . . . the antitrust 

implications of industry decisions being made at another level,” citing the expertise that the 

Commission brings to these discussions.383
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SUMMARY OF PANEL 8: The FTC’s Role in a 

Changing World

The discussions held during this concluding panel centered on core aspects of the FTC’s role in a 

changing world. Panelists focused in on four central questions: 

• What makes an effective competition, consumer protection, and/or data privacy agency?

• How can the FTC be most effective in its bilateral relationships and cooperation?

• What should be the FTC’s role in promoting sound policies and convergence? 

• What is the role of the FTC as a leader in thought and action?

Panelists identified independence, transparency, and accountability as the key characteristics of 

effective agencies. They also stressed the importance of technical skills and efficient agency 

design.384 

[T]o be . . . effective, regulators need to step up and be strategic, prioritize their engagement, 

thought leadership, [and] actions versus potential enforcement, and be very transparent in how 

they conduct their regulatory policy.385

–Bojana Bellamy, 

Centre for Information Policy Leadership

Rod Sims, Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 

characterized an effective agency as one that is both a strong enforcer and a strong advocate. He 

urged agencies to publicize their enforcement, market studies, and advocacy on behalf of 

consumers.386 Bojana Bellamy, President of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s Centre for 

Information Policy Leadership, suggested that in the “fourth Industrial Revolution,” effective 

privacy agencies must be “technically strong” and consider “innovative regulatory policy.”387 

She explained that because there “hasn’t been anyone else who has ever regulated data . . . ,” 

agencies may need to “reinvent” themselves.388 She opined that regulators should favor 

“constructive engagement over enforcement,” reserving enforcement actions for companies that 

“deliberately, repeatedly keep breaking the rules . . . .”389 Bellamy also suggested exploring 

mechanisms like “regulatory sandbox[es],” which some foreign agencies, such as the UK 

Information Commissioner’s Office, are using to design products and services that comply with 

regulation while keeping up with the fast pace of innovation.390

Eduardo Pérez Motta, Senior Partner of SAI Law and Economics, former President of the 

Mexican Federal Competition Commission, and former Chair of the International Competition 
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Network, echoed Bellamy’s call for efficiency and transparency. He outlined five elements of an 

effective, well-designed competition agency starting with the need for independence from 

interference from other government actors. Pérez Motta also pointed to neutrality – i.e., the 

perception that the agency is unbiased, technical strength, including conformance with 

international best practices, efficiency, and transparency.391 

Panelists also stressed that effective agencies would increasingly need to leverage synergies in 

the digital economy. Because “data now cuts through almost every area,” panelists stressed that 

competition and consumer protection authorities should reach out not only to each other, but also 

to departments and agencies within their own governments, in order to learn from one another.392 

Andrew Wyckoff, Director of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 

(OECD) Directorate for Science, Technology, and Innovation, referenced the OECD’s work on 

the “digital transformation” of the economy and recommended that competition and consumer 

protection authorities begin working with other government departments that “have a lot of data 

and don’t necessarily understand . . . the marketplace as an FTC would.”393

The discussion turned to ideas for enhanced cooperation. These included multilateral 

enforcement arrangements like the IOSCO MMOU in the securities area and bilateral 

arrangements like the U.S.-Australia mutual assistance agreement, which provides for 

confidential information sharing and investigative assistance using domestic tools.394 Another 

idea offered by Wyckoff was better implementation of existing principles, as recommended by 

the OECD’s recent review of the 2003 Council Recommendation on cross-border cooperation to 

combat consumer fraud.395 Sims highlighted the success of cooperation under the U.S.-Australia 

MAA and suggested that such agreements could be a powerful tool to increase agency 

effectiveness.396

Panelists turned to the private sector’s role in agency effectiveness. Terry Calvani, former 

Commissioner and Acting Chairman of the FTC and former member of the Irish Competition 

Authority, acknowledged that the “agencies need to always be in the driver’s seat” but argued 

that the private sector could serve as a valuable sounding board for proposed changes in law, 

regulation, and policy.397 Bellamy amplified this point, indicating that the private sector is 

contributing to policy frameworks by “applying reasonably coherent privacy requirements and 

rules wherever they operate.”398 She pointed to the role of the private sector in the Asia-Pacific 

Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules System, which provides a 

mechanism for cross-border data transfers with strong privacy protections. Bellamy explained 

that APEC’s private sector-based certifiable “accountability model” acts “as a minimum-based 

standard . . . that enable[s] companies to share data accountably and responsibly and, therefore, 

promote[s] consumer trust and confidence in the digital economy.”399
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We are now living in a very difficult reality internationally that puts at risk the consideration of 

market policies and . . . the promotion of market efficient policies.400

–Eduardo Pérez Motta, 

SAI Law and Economics

Panelists also suggested that the FTC should promote convergence through a combination of 

advocacy in international organizations and capacity building through technical assistance.401 In 

the competition area, some panelists urged the FTC to continue to promote consumer welfarebased antitrust principles, cautioning that, “[a]s we promote the consumer welfare standard, 

don’t make it so technical no one wants to touch it.”402 They urged continued advocacy against 

arguments favoring national champions.403 Calvani identified due process in competition 

matters as an area where the FTC should advocate convergence, asserting that it is an issue that, 

“all of us ought to be concerned with” and that “there’s a great deal of very profitable missionary 

activity that ought to and can take place there.”404

The panelists also addressed the challenges of convergence and interoperability pertaining to 

privacy and data security. Bellamy noted that mechanisms like the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and 

mutual assistance agreements between individual data protection agencies in the EU and the FTC 

set the stage for further joint policy initiatives on issues like blockchain, machine learning, and 

the Internet of Things.405 Others agreed that the FTC should use its consumer, competition, and 

privacy experience to play a leading role in developing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms for 

privacy and data security, and work with businesses to implement their requirements.

[A] common thread of this panel [is that] a new factor production for today is data. This raises 

some interesting questions for both competition authorities [and] data protection and privacy . . 

. that I think FTC is perfectly poised to begin to look at.406 

–Andrew Wyckoff,

OECD

Panelists commented that while many antitrust regimes around the world are now looking to the 

EU competition framework rather than the U.S. approach to competition enforcement, they 

largely attributed this to differences in legal systems – i.e., common versus civil law and 

adversarial versus regulatory systems.407 They noted that despite those differences, the 

FTC/DOJ merger guidelines and other instruments continue to serve as a model for other 

jurisdictions, which in some cases have wholly adopted them.408 Panelists further lauded the 

FTC’s efforts to share with foreign agencies its understanding of the operation of markets and of 

the mechanics of competition enforcement.409
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I think it’s an extremely good idea for the FTC to exercise leadership in the data field, given it is 

the competition, the consumer, and the privacy regulator. That is a fantastic combination.410

–Rod Sims,

ACCC

Looking to the future, panelists provided concrete proposals for FTC leadership and engagement 

in international organizations. Pérez Motta suggested that the ICN consider adding a “permanent 

secretariat” that would act as an advocate for competition, and housing a mechanism for 

cooperation.411 Wyckoff suggested that the FTC, which has leadership positions in both the 

OECD consumer policy and data privacy bodies, help build an evidence base with, for example, 

comparative indicators of data breach laws.412 He suggested that the FTC might take the lead, as 

it did with the 2010 Consumer Policy Toolkit, and launch a project on behavioral and 

informational economics.413 He suggested additional work on consumer attitudes toward trust 

and more experimental work on personalized pricing where there is “a lot of international 

interest and where the FTC could play a leading role.”414 Sims noted that in Australia, the 

ACCC recently sued several large companies for consumer law breaches and obtained large 

fines. He explained that the “the harm you can do through misleading consumers is visibly as 

bad as it can be from cartels” and urged agencies to elevate the profile of consumer protection 

internationally.415 He recommended that International Consumer Protection Enforcement 

Network (ICPEN) engage in more work to promote consumer protection through capacity 

building, coordinated action among the members, and common approaches and practices.416

The discussion concluded with a call to give greater weight to the importance of consumer policy 

in an increasingly digital economy, where end users are empowered in unprecedented ways, and 

where we rely on consumers to make markets in a way that we did not 50 years ago.417 In 

addressing specific ways in which the FTC might shape its role, panelists suggested that the 

FTC, as an agency that handles competition, consumer protection, and privacy, is wellpositioned to play a leading role in the 21st century.418
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ENDNOTES

1 See FTC Hearing #11: The FTC’s Role in a Changing World, FED. TRADE COMM’N, https://www.ftc.gov/newsevents/events-calendar/ftc-hearing-11-competition-consumer-protection-21st-century. The transcripts are 

available at 

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_events/1454018/ftc_hearings_session_11_transcript_day_1_

3-25-19.pdf, [Tr.1] and 

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_events/1454018/ftc_hearings_session_11_transcript_day_2_

3-26-19.pdf [Tr. 2]. 2 See FTC Hearing #11: The FTC’s Role in a Changing World, FED. TRADE COMM’N, supra note 1; Hearings on 

Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century, Hearing #11: The FTC’s Role in a Changing World, 

REGULATIONS.GOV, 

https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=25&so=DESC&sb=commentDueDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=FTC2019-0002. 3 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/bill-announcement-102020. 4 See Undertaking Spam, Spyware, and Fraud Enforcement with Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 

109-455, 120 Stat. 3372 (2006), available at https://uscode.house.gov/statutes/pl/109/455.pdf [hereinafter “SAFE 

WEB Act”]. 

5 Tr. 1 at 13. See Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission: Oversight of the Federal Trade Commission 

Before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce United 

States House of Representatives, 24-27 (2019), available at

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/1519212/p180101_house_ec_oversight_testimo

ny_may_8_2019.pdf. 6 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/bill-announcement-102020. 7 Tr. 1 at 28, 52, 115, 130.

8 Tr. 1 at 28. 9 Tr. 1 at 52-53, 130, 152. 10 Tr. 1 at 51, 69. 11 Tr. 1 at 115. 12 See Securities Acts Amendments of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-550, 104 Stat. 2713 (1990), available at 

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-104/pdf/STATUTE-104-Pg2713.pdf; Futures Trading Practices Act 

of 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-546, 106 Stat. 2590 (1992), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE106/pdf/STATUTE-106-Pg3590.pdf; Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-314, 122 

Stat. 3016 (2008) (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 2078), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW110publ314/pdf/PLAW-110publ314.pdf. 13 Tr. 1 at 144-45. 14 Tr. 2 at 106, 155, 182-84, 195, 230-31. 15 See International Competition and Consumer Protection Cooperation Agreements, FED. TRADE COMM’N, available 

at https://www.ftc.gov/policy/international/international-cooperation-agreements. 16 See 15 U.S.C. § 6201 (1994), available at

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title15/chapter88&edition=prelim. 17 See Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of 

Information [hereinafter “MMoU”], INT’L ORG. OF SEC. COMM’NS, 

https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD386.pdf. 18 Tr. 1 at 85, 87-89. 19 Tr. 1 at 100, 116-17. 20 Tr. 1 at 113. 21 Tr. 1 at 86-87, 118. 22 Commenters also recognized the important role of FTC leadership. See Letter from Sean Heather to Federal 

Trade Commission, December 19, 2018 (E.g., “The Need For Stronger Antitrust Agency Leadership in Promoting 
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Due Process and Economically-Sound Effects-Based Antitrust Analysis”), REGULATIONS.GOV,

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2019-0002-0010; See Comment Submitted by BBB National 

Programs, Inc., REGULATIONS.GOV, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2019-0002-0008. (“U.S. 

leadership in the area of self-regulation has often paved the way toward the development of standards recognized 

by international bodies. Although industry cooperation and self-regulation are usually initiated without 

government involvement, they are made more potent and durable by the support and encouragement of expert

government actors like the FTC.”; Id. at 1; “In short, the FTC has often used its seat at the table in discussions with 

international bodies to encourage others to embrace a full complement of tools, including self-regulatory 

initiatives, when protecting consumers and competition.” Id. at 5). 23 Tr. 2 at 96. 24 Tr. 1 at 19-20, 24, 29-31; Tr. 2 at 197-98. 25 See UNITED STATES DEP’T OF JUSTICE & FED. TRADE COMM’N, ANTITRUST GUIDELINES FOR INTERNATIONAL ENFORCEMENT AND 

COOPERATION (Jan. 13, 2017) [hereinafter “Antitrust Guidelines for International Enforcement and Cooperation”], 

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/1049863/international_guidelines_2017.pdf. 26 Tr. 1 at 289-93. 27 Tr. 2 at 239. 28 Tr. 2 at 103-4, 143; Tr. 1 at 159-60. 29 Tr. 1 at 40. 30 See U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s and Department of Justice’s Experience with Technical Assistance for the 

Effective Application of Competition Laws (Feb. 6, 2008), 

https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/international-assistance-program/ftcdojtechnicalassist.pdf; 

International Fellows Program, FED. TRADE COMM’N, https://www.ftc.gov/policy/international/international-fellowsprogram. 31 See id. 32 Tr. 2 at 96-97, 138-40. 33 Tr. 2 at 215. 34 Tr. 1 at 12. See SAFE WEB Act, supra note 3. 35 Tr. 1 at 13. See Operators of Sweepstakes Scam Will Forfeit $30 Million to Settle FTC Charges, FED. TRADE COMM’N 

(Mar. 7, 2019), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/03/operators-sweepstakes-scam-willforfeit-30-million-settle-ftc. 36 Tr. 1 at 13. 37 Id. See Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Trade Commission of the United States of America 

and the Competition and Markets Authority of the United Kingdom, available at 

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cooperation_agreements/mou_us_federal_trade_commission_-

_uk_competition_and_markets_authority_-_march_2019.pdf. 38 Tr. 1 at 14. 39 Tr. 1 at 15-16. See INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, https://www.internationalcompetitionnetwork.org; ICPEN, 

https://www.icpen.org/; International Fellows Program, supra note 28. 40 Tr. 1 at 15. 41 Tr. 1 at 16-17. 42 Tr. 1 at 19. 43 Tr. 1 at 19-20, 24. 44 Tr. 1 at 25. 45 Tr. 1 at 19-20, 24, 29-31. See INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, supra note 37; ICPEN, supra note 37. 46 Tr. 1 at 21-22. 47 Tr. 1 at 22. 48 Tr. 1 at 20. 49 Tr. 1 at 22. See Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the 

protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such 

data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC [hereinafter “General Data Protection Regulation”], 2016 O.J. (L119), 

available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj.
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50 Tr. 1 at 22-23. 51 Tr. 1 at 23. 52 Tr. 1 at 26. See Office of International Affairs, FED. TRADE COMM’N, https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureausoffices/office-international-affairs. 53 Tr. 1 at 27. 54 Tr. 1 at 28. See SAFE WEB Act, supra note 3. 55 Tr. 1 at 28. Section §§ 46(j) and 57b-2(b)(6) of the SAFE WEB Act, which amended the FTC Act and is now 

incorporated into its text. See 15 U.S.C. §§ 46(j) and 57b-2(b)(6). The SAFE WEB Act was originally signed into law 

on December 22, 2006. In 2012, Congress reauthorized the SAFE WEB Act until 2020. Pub. L. No. 112-203, 126 Stat. 

1484, codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 41 et seq. 56 Tr. 1 at 28. See International Fellows Program, supra note 28. 57 Tr. 1 at 30-31. See International Technical Assistance Program, FED. TRADE COMM’N,

https://www.ftc.gov/policy/international/international-technical-assistance-program. 58 Tr. 1 at 31. See OECD, http://www.oecd.org; UNITED NATIONS CONF. ON TRADE AND DEV., https://unctad.org. 59 Tr. 1 at 30. 60 Tr. 1 at 34. 61 Tr. 1 at 33, 36. 62 Tr. 1 at 34. 63 Tr. 1 at 35-36 64 Tr. 1 at 34. 65 Id. 66 Tr. 1 at 38. 67 Id. 68 Tr. 1 at 39. Kovacic cited France and Germany’s joint study on data protection as an example. See AUTORITÉ DE LA 

CONCURRENCE & BUNDESKARTELLAMT, COMPETITION LAW AND DATA (May 10, 2016), 

http://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/doc/reportcompetitionlawanddatafinal.pdf. 69 Tr. 1 at 40. 70 Id. The FTC’s current authorizing statute contains several exemptions including for common carriers, banks, 

charities, and non-profits. See 15 U.S.C. §45(a)(2). 71 Tr. 1 at 41-42. Kovacic also mentioned two improvements aimed at the FTC’s inner workings: (i) permitting the 

hiring of foreign citizens; and (ii) amending the Sunshine Act to permit a safe space for FTC commissioners to 

confer in private, like their foreign counterparts. Tr. 1 at 40-41. 72 Tr. 1 at 45. 73 Tr. 1 at 45-48. 74 Tr. 1 at 56-102. 75 Tr. 1 at 63-64. The ICN provides competition authorities with a specialized, informal venue for maintaining 

regular contacts and addressing practical competition concerns. See International Competition Network, supra 

note 37.

76 Tr. 1 at 67-74. ICPEN consists of more than 61 consumer protection law enforcement authorities from across 

the globe. It provides a forum for developing and maintaining regular contact between consumer protection 

agencies and focusing on consumer protection concerns. See ICPEN, https://www.icpen.org/. 77 Tr. 1 at 44. 78 Tr. 1 at 71. See INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION NETWORK’S

FRAMEWORK FOR MERGER REVIEW COOPERATION (Mar. 1, 2012), https://www.internationalcompetitionnetwork.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/05/MWG_FrameworkforMergerReviewCooperation.pdf. 79 Tr. 1 at 53. 80 Tr. 1 at 72. 81 Tr. 1 at 48-49. See Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of 

Canada Regarding the Application of Their Competition and Deceptive Marketing Practices Laws, available at

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/agree_canada.pdf. 82 See MMoU, supra note 15; Tr. 1 at 76.
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83 Id. 84 Tr. 1 at 76. International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) also has an enhanced MOU with 10 

signatories that requires signatories to have additional powers. Tr. 1 at 78-79. 85 Tr. 1 at 79. 86 Tr. 1 at 51-52. 87 Tr. 1 at 52. See Rogers Agreement with Competition Bureau Nets Record Refunds for Wireless Consumers, 

COMPETITION BUREAU CANADA (Mar. 16, 2015), https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cbbc.nsf/eng/03889.html; https://uscode.house.gov/statutes/pl/109/455.pdf; SAFE WEB Act, supra note 3. 88 See Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL or the Act, 2010 S.C., ch. 23 (Can.)), available at https://lawslois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-1.6/index.html; Art. 29, Competition Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34), available at

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-34/page-1.html. 89 See STATEMENT OF INTENT ON CROSS BORDER COLLABORATION, (Sept. 12, 2013), 

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/international-competition-consumer-protection-cooperationagreements/african_dialogue_principles_on_cooperation_in_consumer_protection_enforcement_-

_zambia_september.pdf. The Principles provide, for example, that agencies should have the “ability to obtain 

evidence to investigate and take action in a timely manner against consumer protection law violations” (B.3) 

and “have the authority and discretion to cooperate on appropriate investigations and cases, both those 

involving domestic practices targeting foreign consumers and those involving foreign practices targeting domestic 

consumers . . . .” (B.1).

90 Tr. 1 at 85-89. 91 Tr. 1 at 85, 87-89. 92 Tr. 1 at 100. 93 Tr. 1 at 86-87. See General Data Protection Regulation, supra note 47. 94 Id. See ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR THE TRANSFER OF PERSONAL DATA, available at

https://www.sec.gov/files/Administrative_Arrangement.pdf; Tr. 1 at 87. 95 Tr. 1 at 88. 96 Tr. 1 at 75-80, 90-93. 97 Tr. 1 at 82-84. The FTC does not conduct joint investigations. See, e.g., Antitrust Guidelines for International 

Enforcement and Cooperation, supra note 23, at 38 n. 139. 98 See e.g., Tr. 1 at 46-54, 58-60, 61-65, 69-73, 75-79, 100. 99 See EUROPEAN UNION, https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en; ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION, 

https://www.apec.org/. 100 Tr. 1 at 105, 107-08. See United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) actions against Facebook,

AggregateIQ, and Cambridge Analytica. ICO issues maximum £500,000 fine to Facebook for failing to protect users’ 

personal information (Oct. 28, 2018), INFORMATION COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE, https://ico.org.uk/facebook-fine20181025; ENFORCEMENT NOTICE (Oct. 24, 2018), INFORMATION COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE, https://ico.org.uk/media/actionweve-taken/enforcement-notices/2260123/aggregate-iq-en-20181024.pdf; SCL Elections prosecuted for failing to 

comply with enforcement notice, INFORMATION COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE, https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-andevents/news-and-blogs/2019/01/scl-elections-prosecuted-for-failing-to-comply-with-enforcement-notice. 101 Tr. 1 at 109-110. DPA 2018 has a broad “public interest” test that permits the ICO to exchange information 

even in matters involving conduct that would not be an offense in the United Kingdom. Tr. 1 at 152. 102 Tr. 1 at 110. See Ashley Madison (Sept. 27, 2017), FED. TRADE COMM’N, https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/casesproceedings/152-3284/ashley-madison. 103 Tr. 1 at 110-11. 104 Tr. 1 at 108. See GLOBAL PRIVACY ENFORCEMENT NETWORK, https://www.privacyenforcement.net/; INT’L CONF. OF 

DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY COMMISSIONERS, https://icdppc.org; UNSOLICITED COMM. ENFORCEMENT NETWORK, 

https://www.ucenet.org/. 105 Tr. 1 at 115. 106 Tr. 1 at 111-12. See Int’l Trade Admin., PRIVACY SHIELD FRAMEWORK, https://www.privacyshield.gov; APEC, CROSSBORDER PRIVACY RULES SYSTEM, http://cbprs.org. On July 16, 2020, the European Court of Justice issued a judgment 

declaring invalid the European Commission’s Decision 2016/1250/EC of July 12, 2016 on the adequacy of the EU-
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U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. The FTC issued an update in response to this ruling, FTC, Update on the Privacy 

Shield Framework, https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/privacy-and-security/privacy-shield (July 21, 

2020).

107 Tr. 1 at 136-38. 108 Tr. 1 at 137. 109 Tr. 1 at 140-41. 110 Tr. 1 at 115. 111 Tr. 1 at 116. 112 Tr. 1 at 120. 113 See Consumer protection cooperation regulation, EUROPEAN COMM’N, https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/lawtopic/consumers/consumer-protection-cooperation-regulation_en. 114 Tr. 1 at 123. 115 Tr. 1 at 122. See Antitrust: Commission opens formal investigation into possible collusion between BMW, 

Daimler and the VW group on clean emission technology (Sept. 18, 2018), EUROPEAN COMM’N,

https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-5822_en.htm. 116 The European Commission has concluded that the companies are honoring their commitments. Tr. 1 at 122. 

Benassi noted that this matter was based on cooperation with the traders, not enforcement. If the car rental 

companies had not cooperated, then the EC would have pursued coordinated enforcement by EU member states. 

Tr. 1 at 122-23. 117 Tr. 1 at 125. 118 Tr. 1 at 126-27. Currently, there are three partnerships: the Toronto Strategic Partnership, the Alberta 

Partnership, and the Pacific Partnership. There are efforts to renew the Montreal Partnership. Tr. 1 at 142.

119 For example, the Toronto Strategic Partnership includes a minimum of eight different organizations: the Federal 

Trade Commission, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Toronto Police, the 

Ontario Provincial Police, the Ministry of Consumer Government Services, the Competition Bureau of Canada, and 

the Ministry of Finance. Tr. 1 at 126, 128. 

120 Tr. 1 at 126-27. 121 Tr. 1 at 128. 122 Tr. 1 at 129; MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND THE ROYAL 

CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE ON MUTUAL ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE IN CONSUMER FRAUD MATTERS (Mar. 1, 2017), 

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cooperation_agreements/mou_ftc_and_rcmp_mutual_enforcemen

t_assistance.pdf. Working with partners in International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group (IMMFWG), the 

U.S. Department of Justice recently announced the largest ever nationwide elder fraud sweep in cooperation with 

eight countries. See Justice Department Coordinates Largest-Ever Nationwide Elder Fraud Sweep (Mar. 11, 2019), 

DEP’T OF JUSTICE, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-coordinates-largest-ever-nationwide-elderfraud-sweep-0. 123 Tr. 1 at 130. 124 Id. 125 Tr. 1 at 145. 126 Tr. 1 at 144. See also Fortin testimony, Tr. 1 at 75-76 (discussing “robust” screening process that requires 

signatories to demonstrate that they have “the legal capacity to cooperate and share information with [their] 

foreign counterparts”); INT’L ORG. OF SEC. COMM’NS, https://www.iosco.org/; MMoU, supra note 15. 127 Tr. 1 at 149-51, 163-64. For compulsory process, the foreign authority must be a securities authority that is able 

to provide reciprocal assistance and the use of process must be consistent with the public interest of the United 

States. 

128 Tr. 1 at 144. 129 Tr. 1 at 145. 130 Tr. 1 at 144-45. 131 Tr. 1 at 113-14. See General Data Protection Regulation, supra note 47. 132 Tr. 1 at 113. 133 Tr. 1 at 116-17.
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134 Tr. 1 at 117. 135 Tr. 1 at 118. See also Fortin testimony, Tr. 1 at 86-87, discussing administrative arrangement regarding the 

GDPR whereby non-EU signatories would provide additional safeguards so that EU authorities could continue to 

use the MMOU to share information. See ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR THE TRANSFER OF PERSONAL DATA,supra note 

92. 

136 Tr. 1 at 131. 137 Tr. 1 at 165-66. 138 Tr. 1 at 142-43. 139 Tr. 1 at 146-47. 140 Id. 141 Tr. 1 at 160, 168-69. 142 Tr. 1 at 161-62. 143 Tr. 1 at 166. 144 Tr. 1 at 166-67. 145 Tr. 1 at 169. 146 Tr. 1 at 169-70. 147 Tr. 1 at 173-77. 148 Tr. 1 at 173-78, 210-11. 149 Tr. 1 at 173-77, 191. 150 Tr. 1 at 191, 210-11. 151 Tr. 1 at 175, 177. 152 Tr. 1 at 174, 183-84. 153 Tr. 1 at 175-78, 184-85. 154 Tr. 1 at 210. 155 Tr. 1 at 175. 156 Tr. 1 at 179, 182, 217-19. 157 Tr. 1 at 180-81. 158 Tr. 1 at 181, 217-19. 159 Tr. 1 at 216-17. 160 Tr. 1 at 195-98. 161 Tr. 1 at 174, 177, 179, 188. 162 Tr. 1 at 174, 177, 179-81, 188-89, 191, 210-11. 163 Tr. 1 at 209-10. 164 Tr. 1 at 183, 209-10, 212, 219. A waiver of confidentiality enables an agency to share the submitter’s 

confidential business information with another reviewing agency, facilitating joint discussion and analysis. For 

further information see International Waivers of Confidentiality in FTC Antitrust Investigations, FED. TRADE COMM’N, 

https://www.ftc.gov/policy/international/international-competition/international-waivers-confidentiality-ftcantitrust; Antitrust Guidelines for International Enforcement and Cooperation, supra note 23, at § 5.1.4. 165 Tr. 1 at 177, 179, 188. 166 Tr. 1 at 177, 179, 188, 212. 167 Tr. 1 at 188. 168 Tr. 1 at 208. 169 Tr. 1 at 188, 208. 170 Tr. 1 at 188. 171 Tr. 1 at 190. 172 Tr. 1 at 189-90. The MMOU allows for sharing confidential information and confers power to obtain the 

production of information and testimony for foreign regulators. See MMoU, supra note 15. 173 Tr.1 at 188-90. See SAFE WEB Act, supra note 3. 174 Tr. 1 at 174, 177, 179-81, 188-89, 191. 175 Tr. 1 at 203, 205-06, 211. 176 Tr. 1 at 218.
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177 Tr. 1 at 191-93. 178 Id. 179 Tr. 1 at 191. 180 Tr. 1 at 175, 199. 181 Tr. 1 at 199-200. 182 Tr. 1 at 185. 183 Tr. 1 at 182-83, 186. 184 Tr. 1 at 186. 185 See SAFE WEB Act § 6, 15 U.S.C. § 57(b)-2(b)(6). 186 Tr. 1 at 213-16. 187 Tr. 1 at 216-18, 221-22. 188 Tr. 1 at 189-90, 191-93, 200-02, 218-19, 222-23, 226. 189 Tr. 1 at 230-31. 190 Tr. 1 at 231. 191 Tr. 1 at 228-29. 192 Tr. 1 at 232. 193 Tr.1 p.235-36 194 Tr. 1 at 234-35. 195 Tr. 1 at 280. 196 Tr. 1 at 241-42. See THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, available at

https://indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1999/3/A2000-21.pdf. 197 Tr. 1 at 243. 198 Tr. 1 at 247. 199 Tr. 1 at 248. 200 Tr. 1 at 247. 201 Tr. 1 at 244. 202 Tr. 1 at 263-64. 203 Tr. 1 at 284. 204 Tr. 1 at 252-53. See AUTORITÉ DE LA CONCURRENCE & COMPETITION AND MKTS. AUTH., The Economics of Open and 

Closed Systems, http://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/doc/economics_open_closed_systems.pdf; Competition 

Law and Data, supra note 66. 205 Tr. 1 at 254. 206 Tr. 1 at 255. See, e.g., INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK ADVOCACY WORKING GRP., Report on ICN Members’ Recent 

Experiences (2015-2018) in Conducting Competition Advocacy in Digital Markets (2019), 

https://www.internationalcompetitionnetwork.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/06/AWG_AdvDigitalMktsReport2019.pdf. 207 Tr. 1 at 253. See AUTORITÉ DE LA CONCURRENCE, The French Autorité de la concurrence and the German 

Bundeskartellamt launch a joint project on algorithms and their implications on competition (June 19, 2018), 

http://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/user/standard.php?lang=en&id_rub=684&id_article=3197. 208 Tr. 1 at 255-56. 209 Tr. 1 at 257-58. 210 Tr. 1 at 266-72, 276. 211 Tr 1 at 280. 212 Tr. 1 at 280. 213 Tr. 1 at 288. See INT’L CONF. OF DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY COMMISSIONERS, DECLARATION ON ETHICS AND DATA 

PROTECTION IN ARTIFIC[I]AL INTELLIGENCE, https://icdppc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/20180922_ICDPPC-40th_AIDeclaration_ADOPTED.pdf. 214 Tr. 1 at 288-89. 215 Tr. 1 at 289. 216 Tr. 1 at 251. The law will take effect in August 2020. 217 Tr. 1 at 290-91.
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218 Tr. 1 at 291-92 219 Tr. 1 at 293. 220 Id. 221 Tr. 2 at 5. 222 Tr. 2 at 9-10. 223 Tr. 2 at 10. 224 Tr. 2 at 11-12. 225 Tr. 2 at 10. 226 Tr. 2 at 12. See OECD, supra note 56; See INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, supra note 37. 227 Tr. 2 at 13. 228 Id. 229 Tr. 2 at 14. 230 Tr. 2 at 28. 231 Tr. 2 at 24. 232 Tr. 2 at 21-25. 233 Tr. 2 at 26-28. 234 Id. 235 Tr. 2 at 29-31. See INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, ICN FRAMEWORK ON COMPETITION AGENCY PROCEDURES, 

https://www.internationalcompetitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ICN_CAP.pdf. In response to 

the FTC’s questions for public comment, Professor D. Daniel Sokol of the University of Florida’s Levin College of 

Law urged the FTC and all antitrust authorities to promote transparency and due process, “so that their decisionmaking is adequately informed and justified based on the economics and the factual record.” He highlighted the 

tangible benefits of a system of robust procedural fairness safeguards, suggesting that with transparency, 

communication between authorities and parties is improved, information asymmetries are diminished, and 

authorities are better equipped to conduct effective enforcement and policymaking. See Comment Submitted by 

D. Daniel Sokol, REGULATIONS.GOV, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2019-0002-0009. 236 Tr. 2 at 28. 237 Tr. 2 at 20-22, 35-37, 39-40, 42-43. 238 Tr. 2 at 24, 28, 35-37, 39-40, 42-43. 239 Tr. 2 at 20-22, 35-37. 240 Tr. 2 at 38. 241 Tr. 2 at 20-22, 35-37, 39-40, 42-43. 242 Tr. 2 at 54. 243 Tr. 2 at 49. 244 Tr. 2 at 73. 245 Tr. 2 at 72. 246 Tr. 2 at 66. 247 Tr. 2 at 66-67, 69. 248 Tr. 2 at 69. 249 Tr. 2 at 25-28, 55, 74-75. 250 Tr. 2 at 25-28, 55. 251 Tr. 2 at 49, 51, 53, 55. 252 Tr. 2 at 51. See Angela Huyue Zhang, Jingchen Liu & Nuno Garoupa, Judging in Europe: Do Legal Traditions 

Matter?, 14(1) JOURNAL OF COMPETITION LAW & ECON., 144-178 (2018). 253 Tr. 2 at 35-36. 254 Tr. 2 at 35. 255 Tr. 2 at 35-36. 256 Tr. 2 at 36. 257 Id. 258 Tr. 2 at 41-43. 259 Tr. 2 at 42-43.
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260 Tr. 2 at 41. 261 Tr. 2 at 39-42, 60-61. 262 Tr. 2 at 51-53. 263 Id. 264 Tr. 2 at 43, 58-61. Bignami cited a 2011 study finding significant movement toward an adversarial system in 

Italy, Germany, the UK, and France. Tr. 2 at 58-59. See Francesca Bignami and R. Daniel Kelemen, Kagan's Atlantic 

Crossing: Adversarial Legalism, Eurolegalism, and Cooperative Legalism in European Regulatory Style, George 

Washington Univ. Law Sch. Pub. Law Research Paper No. 6 (2017). 265 Tr. 2 at 60. 266Tr. 2 at 44-46. 267 Tr. 2 at 29-31, 56-57, 66, 69. 268 Tr. 2 at 66. See CNIL, https://www.cnil.fr/en/home. 269 Tr. 2 at 56, 66-67, 69. 270 Tr. 2 at 78-80. 271 Tr. 2 at 62, 68. 272 Tr. 2 at 62, 81. 273 Tr. 2 at 81. 274 Tr. 2 at 75-76. 275 Tr. 2 at 79-80. 276 Tr. 2 at 62. 277 Tr. 2 at 61-63, 77. 278 Tr. 2, at 85-86, 90. 279 Tr. 2 at 86. 280 Tr. 2 at 87-88. 281 Tr. 2 at 88-89. 282 Tr. 2 at 84, 88. See INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, supra note 37. 283 Tr. 2 at 89. See Office of International Affairs, supra note 50; International Technical Assistance Program, supra

note 55; International Fellows Program, supra note 28. See also Comment Submitted by International Council for 

Ad Self-Regulation, REGULATIONS.GOV, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2019-0002-0007. 284 Tr. 2 at 93. UNCTAD has “intergovernmental groups of experts” for both competition law and policy and 

consumer law and policy. See UNITED NATIONS CONF. ON TRADE AND PROSPERITY, Competition Law and Consumer 

Protection Policy, https://unctad.org/en/Pages/DITC/CompetitionLaw/Competition-Law-and-Policy.aspx. 285 Tr. 2 at 95-96. See UNITED NATIONS CONF. ON TRADE AND PROSPERITY, THE UNITED NATIONS SET OF PRINCIPLES AND RULES ON 

COMPETITION, https://unctad.org/en/docs/tdrbpconf10r2.en.pdf; UNITED NATIONS CONF. ON TRADE AND PROSPERITY,

United Nations Guideline for Consumer Protection, 

https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditccplpmisc2016d1_en.pdf. 286 Tr. 2 at 96. 287 Tr. 2 at 94. 288 Tr. 2 at 110. 289 Id. Consumers International has more than 200 consumer organization, governmental and other civil society 

members in over 100 countries. See CONSUMERS INT’L, https://www.consumersinternational.org/. 290 Tr. 2 at 124-25. 291 Tr. 2 at 128-29. 292 Id. 293 Tr. 2 at 112. 294 Tr. 2 at 131. 295 Tr. 2 at 111. 296 Tr. 2 at 112. 297 Tr. 2 at 125. 298 Tr. 2 at 127. 299 Id.
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300 Tr. 2 at 101-04. 301 Tr. 2 at 143. See General Data Protection Regulation, supra note 47. 302 Tr. 2 at 103. 303 Tr. 2 at 104. 304 Id. 305 Tr. 2 at 105-108. 306 Tr. 2 at 109, 120. 307 Tr. 2 at 109. 308 Id. 309 Tr. 2 at 106. 310 Tr. 2 at 118-19. 311 Tr. 2 at 108, 119-120. See, e.g., United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE 

REPRESENTATIVE, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canadaagreement. 312 Tr. 2 at 99. 313 Tr. 2 at 99-100, and 121-22. 314 Tr. 2 at 99. 315 Tr. 2 at 124. 316 Tr. 2 at 133. 317 See COMISIÓN NACIONAL DE DEFENSA DE LA COMPETENCIA, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/defensadelacompetencia. 318 Tr. 2 at 136. 319 Tr. 2 at 136-37. 320 Tr. 2 at 116. 321 Tr. 2 at 139-40. 322 Id. 323 Tr. 2 at 138. 324 Tr. 2 at 141. 325 Tr. 2 at 141-42. 326 Tr. 2 at 143-44. 327 Id. 328 Tr. 2 at 169, 179, 190-91. 329 Tr. 2 at 147-50, 155. 330 Id., 166, 191. 331 Tr. 2 at 158-59. 332 Tr. 2 at 157. 333 Tr. 2 at 147-50, 154-55, 159-60. See OECD, supra note 56; INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, supra note 37; GLOBAL 

PRIVACY ENFORCEMENT NETWORK,supra note 102; ASSOC. OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS, https://asean.org; EUROPEAN 

UNION,supra note 97. 334 Tr. 2 at 158-59, 175-77, 190. 335 See AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION & CONSUMER COMM’N, Competition Law Implementation Program, 

https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/international-relations/competition-law-implementation-program-clip. 336 Tr. 2 at 177-80. 337 Tr. 2 at 177-79. 338 Tr. 2 at 169, 179, 191, 193, 198-99. 339 Tr. 2 at 199. 340 Id. 341 Tr. 2 at 175-76, 179; see EUROPEAN COMM’N, European Competition Network,

https://ec.europa.eu/competition/ecn/index_en.html; BRICS, http://infobrics.org/. 342 Tr. 2 at 149, 191, 195. 343 Tr. 2 at 179. 344 Tr. 2 at 162-67.
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345 Tr. 2 at 163. 346 Id. 347 Tr. 2 at 166. 348 Tr. 348 Tr. 2 at 2 at 168-72. 349 Tr. 2 at 164-65. 350 Tr. 2 at 182-84. 351 Tr. 2 at 155, 195. 352 Tr. 2 at 155. 353 Tr. 2 at 157. 354 Tr. 2 at 182, 186-87, 191, 200. 355 Tr. 2 at 151, 158. 356 Tr. 2 at 189. 357 Tr. 2 at 189-90. 358 Tr. 2 at 180. 359 Tr. 2 at 168-71, 180-81. 360 Tr. 2 at 180-81. 361 Tr. 2 at 198. 362 Id. 363 Tr. 2 at 161, 171-72, 179, 193, 195. 364 Tr. 2 at 195. 365 Tr. 2 at 197. 366 Tr. 2 at 196. 367 Tr. 2 at 197-98. 368 Tr. 2 at 206. 369 Tr. 2 at 207; see INT’L COMPETITION NETWORK, supra note 37; OECD, supra note 56. 370 Tr. 2 at 208-9. See Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada 

05/30/19 Text, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-tradeagreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/agreement-between; KORU Final Text, OFFICE OF THE UNITED 

STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/korus-fta/final-text. 371 Tr. 2 at 207-08. Recently active in over 22 jurisdictions, the FTC Technical Assistance Program conducted 36 

missions in fiscal year 2018. See International Technical Assistance Program, supra note 55. 372 Tr. 2 at 210-11. 373 Tr. 2 at 209. 374 Tr. 2 at 209-11. 375 Tr. 2 at 215. 376 Tr. 2 at 211. 377 Id. 378 Tr. 2 at 212. 379 Tr. 2 at 210. 380 Tr. 2 at 213; see Antitrust Guidelines for International Enforcement and Cooperation, supra note 23. 381 Tr. 2 at 206, 213-15. 382 Tr. 2 at 213-14. 383 Tr. 2 at 215. See CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY EXPERT 

GROUP REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION (March 2017), 

https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/icpeg_recommendations_and_report.pdf. 384 Tr. 2 at 211-12, 220, 223-24, 233. 385 Tr. 2 at 220. 386 Tr. 2, at 225-26. 387 Tr. 2 at 221, 226. See also Comment Submitted by Centre for Information Policy Leadership, REGULATIONS.GOV, 

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2019-0002-0005.
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388 Tr. 2 at 226-27. 389 Tr. 2 at 220-21. 390 Id. See INFORMATION COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE, The Guide to the Sandbox (beta phase), https://ico.org.uk/fororganisations/the-guide-to-the-sandbox-beta-phase/. See also testimony of James Dipple Johnstone, Tr. 1 at 246

(“[W]e think the GDPR provisions around data protection impact assessments and our work around, for example, 

regulatory sandboxes and innovation hubs with other regulators.”). See also Comment Submitted by Centre for 

Information Policy Leadership, REGULATIONS.GOV, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2019-0002-0002. 391 Tr. 2 at 223-25. 392 Tr. 2 at 213-15, 225, 227-28. 393 Tr. 2 at 228. 394 Tr. 2 at 230-32. See INT’L ORG. OF SEC. COMM’NS, Fact Sheet, https://www.iosco.org/about/pdf/iosco-factsheet.pdf; MMoU, supra note 15; OECD, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation

Committee on Consumer Policy, https://www.oecd.org/sti/consumer/DSTI-CP(2018)7-FINAL.en.pdf. 395 Tr. 2 at 231-32. 396 Tr. 2 at 230-31. See FED. TRADE COMM’N, USA/Australia Mutual Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Agreement

(Apr. 1999), https://www.ftc.gov/policy/cooperation-agreements/usaaustralia-mutual-antitrust-enforcementassistance-agreement; FED. TRADE COMM’N, Annex A, https://www.ftc.gov/node/119104. 397 Tr. 2 at 234. 398 Tr. 2 at 235. 399 Tr. 2 at 235-6. 400 Tr. 2 at 243. 401 Tr. 2 at 239. 402 Tr. 2 at 209, 238, 240-44. 403 Tr. 2 at 242. 404 Tr. 2 at 238. 405 Tr. 2 at 245-48; see PRIVACY SHIELD FRAMEWORK,supra note 104. 406 Tr. 2 at 239. 407 Tr. 2 at 262-64. 408 Id. 409 Id. 410 Tr. 2 at 264-65. 411 Tr. 2 at 255. 412 Tr. 2 at 257. 413 Id. 414 Tr. 2 at 257-58. 415 Tr. 2 at 251. 416 Tr. 2 at 251-52. 417 Tr. 2 at 265-66. 418 Tr. 2 at 239, 247-49, 265.