On February 12, 2026, a U.S. federal judge blocked a recent Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) rule that updated pre-merger reporting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, significantly expanding the scope of information that parties to a proposed transaction must disclose. A suit was filed last year by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”), a business association advocacy group, challenging the new rule. The Chamber claimed that the FTC had overstepped its statutory authority by requiring information that went beyond what was “necessary and appropriate” for an initial antitrust review. Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. FTC, Case No. 6:25-cv-00009 (E.D. Texas). The Court agreed and ordered that the rule be vacated, finding that the FTC had failed to show the benefits of the new HSR requirements would be likely to outweigh the costs. This decision may halt the use of the new HSR form that had been in place since February 10, 2025. The full implications for the HSR filing process moving forward are still unclear. For now though, the Court has stayed its decision for seven days, so the FTC has directed that all HSR filings submitted through February 19, 2026 should continue to use the new form. Further guidance from the FTC for filings made after February 19 is still forthcoming. Lewis Rice’s HSR team will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to clients navigating the HSR filing process.
