Major Conflicts of Interest Loom Over Top U.S. Antitrust Regulator

I spent many years working in an industry heavily regulated by regulatory agencies – biotech and medical devices. A former FDA inspector might leave the agency to take a lucrative job in the industry. This would help the company deal with the FDA. It is not a case of a conflict. This is not a conflict of interest.

Jonathan Kanter’s story is another example. He was the “top antitrust police” at the United States Justice Department and had extensive connections with the banks and financial firms that he supervised.

Jonathan Kanter said to Semafor that the US Justice Department will overhaul its review of mergers involving banks and financial services firms.

The move will have a major impact on the financial sector, bringing more antitrust attention to nonbank players such as private equity, fintech, and private credit.

Kanter, who spoke on Monday at a Semafor event in New York stated, “Our analysis should focus on market realities.”

View the full list of Kanter’s clients here.

Apollo, Kohlberg & Company, a firm in this group, is under scrutiny due to their purchase of Iowa’s Ottumwa regional health system. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the senior ranking member of Iowa’s Senate Budget Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have launched an investigation into this matter. When I left Iowa, in the late ’80s, Grassley was already a Senator representing Iowa.

Ottumwa Regional Health Center was one of many hospitals that suffered from significant staff reductions and substandard care, as well as losses in valuable assets such as real estate. The hospitals are now burdened with debt. They want to know about related-party transactions and the amount of control that private equity firms have over them.

Ranking Member Grassley said, “A business plan that prioritizes profits over patient care and safety is unacceptable. ”

Jonathan Kanter is an antitrust officer who should be monitoring this type of activity.

A regulator oversees the regulation of bank mergers and acquisitions, as well as private equity. We have an acquired company whose management is allegedly substandard, resulting in substandard treatment at Iowa’s small and rural hospitals.

It’s getting more and more curious and strange.

The more regulators, the greater the incestuous relationship that will develop between them and the regulated.

Jonathan Kanter was not accused of any abuses at the time of writing this article. This is still a conflict and should have never happened.