Clifford Chance
DOJ Task Force to Investigate Antitrust Crimes in Government Procurement
13 November 2019
On November 5, 2019, the US Department of Justice, Antitrust Division announced the launch of an inter-agency Procurement Collusion Strike Force tasked with identifying and prosecuting collusion in connection with government procurement. This announcement is the latest reflecting the priority that the present leadership of the Antitrust Division has placed on targeting allegedly anticompetitive conduct by companies that bid for contracts to sell goods and services to the US government. Companies who contract for US government procurement—anywhere in the world—should revisit their antitrust compliance policies to guard against the threat of a similar enforcement action, which can lead to corporate penalties, prison time for executives, and civil damages.
