The Federal Trade Commission continued its active enforcement posture in late March 2026, with significant developments spanning healthcare, franchise regulation, competition, and consumer financial protection. The Commission distributed more than $10.9 million to consumers harmed by a credit repair pyramid scheme, while the FTC secured a record-breaking franchise settlement. Chairman Ferguson also launched a new Healthcare Task Force to coordinate agency-wide enforcement efforts in the healthcare sector. These stories and more after the jump.

In this round of updates, we see updates to several FTC actions related to deceptive marketing as well as several administrative updates.  The FTC has named a deputy director of the bureau of competition and held several workshops on topics of data privacy and security. We also saw several Advance Notices of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM). These stories and more after the jump.

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Bureau of Competition; Competition; Nonmerger; Noncompete

• The FTC finalized a consent order requiring Gateway Services, Inc. and its subsidiary, Gateway US Holdings, Inc. (collectively “Gateway”) to stop entering into or enforcing noncompete agreements on their employees. The order followed the FTC’s September 2025 complaint, which alleged that Gateway’s noncompete agreements were anticompetitive and suppressed competition. Previously, these agreements prohibited Gateway employees from working in the pet cremation industry anywhere in the United States for one year after leaving the company. Under the consent order, Gateway must stop enforcing its existing noncompete agreements and is prohibited from entering into similar agreements in the future.

Due to the government shutdown, the FTC is closed aside from essential services.  Therefore, Crowell’s FTC updates will resume after the shutdown ends.

The FTC proposed recommendations to rescind and lighten its own regulations. The agency also published its 47th Annual Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Report summarizing merger enforcement actions in 2024. These stories, and more, after the jump.

The FTC is heading into summer with an active docket. The agency has been keeping its eye on enforcement, issuing warning letters to contact lens prescribers over potential violations of the agency’s Contact Lens and Eyeglass Rules. Over the next few weeks, it plans on hosting a workshop on healthcare advertising and listening sessions on prescription drug pricing and competition. These stories, and more, after the jump. 

This week, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection has been busy addressing the “Attention Economy,” false income claims, privacy and data security, and a student debt relief scam. On the competition side, the FTC enforced against raising prices for anesthesiology services. These stories, and more, after the jump.