FTC Looks to Expand Civil Penalty Arsenal in Wake of AMG Loss

ROSCA and GLBA acts provide potential paths to monetary relief

By:  Donnelly L. McDowell (with content from John E. Villafranco)

With the FTC’s fight on the Hill for new 13(b) authority ongoing, two recent enforcement actions signal that the Commission plans to use its civil penalty authority in novel ways with significant implications for the direct selling industry.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in favor of AMG Capital Management—which stated that the FTC lacks authority to obtain monetary redress under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act—then Acting Chair Rebecca Slaughter vowed to lobby Congress in response. 

Her goal was to “restore and strengthen the powers of the agency” and consider new ways to obtain money from companies through enforcement. Two months after the AMG decision, the
FTC continues to make good on those promises.