The Transaction Team consists of a small group of attorneys in the Office of General Counsel. The Team’s principal job is to assist Commission staff from the various Bureaus in reviewing applications involved in major transactions – those transactions that raise significant competition and other public interest issues. In addition to providing substantive administrative, antitrust, and corporate expertise, the Transaction Team helps ensure that the Commission's internal procedures are transparent and uniform across the Bureaus, and helps coordinates the Commission’s review with that of the federal antitrust agencies. It is also responsible for assessing and recommending how to improve the Commission’s review process.
Major transactions each have their own web page. A list of the current and recent major transactions can be accessed by clicking the link at the top of this page. The web page for each major transaction includes relevant information about the specific transaction, including a short description, a timeline, and links to the applications, petitions, comments and other pleadings, ex parte filings, and Commission orders and decisions. Please note that the web page is not the official public record of the proceeding. There is also an archive, in alphabetical order, of the web pages for all past major transactions since 2000 Archived Transactions, and a chronological list of the final decisions in those transactions Major Transaction Decisions.
The transactions that have their own web page generally have one or more of the following qualities:
- they present novel or complex issues of law or policy;
- they propose combinations that are likely to have a significant impact on the public;
- they involve business, economic, legal, public interest, or other regulatory issues that are likely to elicit significant public comment; or
- they will produce a record that is likely to be of significant public interest.
Providing a transaction with its own web page does not alter the Commission’s standard of review. The relevant statutory and regulatory standard applies to an application regardless of its placement on the Commission’s web site.
The Commission has also developed an informal timeline to ensure that most applications are processed within 180 days after the Commission has sought comment from the public. The timeline is intended to promote transparency and predictability in the Commission’s process. For transactions highlighted on the web page, the timeline provides the public with ready access to information about the status of a pending transaction. For transactions not highlighted on the web page, the timeline still applies and the Commission endeavors to complete action on pending applications accordingly. In fact, most are completed well within 180 days. Based on the experience it has gained over the last few years, the Transaction Team continues to refine the timeline and recommend changes to the Commission's internal procedures.
See History of the Transaction Team for documents related to the creation of the Transaction Team.
Points of Contact
The OGC Transaction Team consists of its leader, Jim Bird, Senior Counsel, and attorney-advisors Joel Rabinovitz, William (Bill) Dever, and Wisam Naoum. Team members can be contacted by telephone at (202) 418-1720 or at TransactionTeam@FCC.gov. This Team of career professionals supports the merger-specific working groups that the Commission creates to assist in the review of major transactions, particularly involving multiple bureaus. See, for example, Review Teams Announced. The Team brings additional transactional/corporate, communications, and competition policy expertise to the effort. It also fosters consistency across merger reviews.