Year-End Score Card: The Federal Trade Commission...

Year-End Score Card: The Federal Trade Commission said this week that its antitrust unit has brought 33 enforcement actions against alleged anti-competitive corporate behavior in the past year, the most since 1980. It also said its consumer protection unit was the most active it has been in years, bringing 233 actions for fraud and other matters in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The FTC said that of the 33 antitrust cases, 20 involved allegedly anti-competitive mergers in industries including drugs, defense, telecommunications, financial services and consumer goods. The other 13 involved allegedly anti-competitive behavior by, among others, medical professionals, automobile dealers and cable television systems, the FTC said. On the consumer side, the agency said it focused on consumer scams that involved emerging technologies.