US: FTC chairwoman to step down, leaving three vacancies

US Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will step down next month after more than three years as chair and six at the agency under Democratic President Barack Obama, the FTC said on Friday.

Ramirez, who worked on the Harvard Law Review with Obama and later for his presidential campaign, is widely expected to be replaced by Republican Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen once President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

The commission has five seats, but Ramirez’s decision to depart effective Feb. 10 will leave just two commissioners in place: Ohlhausen and Democrat Terrell McSweeny.

Ramirez headed the agency, which enforces antitrust law and pursues companies that defraud consumers, during what another antitrust enforcer called a “tsunami” of high-value deals in industries that already were dominated by a few large players.

Altogether, the agency brought nearly 400 consumer protection-related actions and about 100 related anti-competitive mergers under her tenure, the FTC said in a statement.

Full Content: Reuters

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.