The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission this month issued a joint statement reaffirming the importance of preserving competition in the defense industry. 

The antitrust agencies are responsible for reviewing mergers in the defense industry under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers whose effect “may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.” Recently, however, the Department of Defense (DoD) has threatened to seek legislation to expand its role in the review of defense industry mergers.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...