Serious Business: The FTC’s Re-Deployment of the Penalty Offense Authority

By: Kevin Grimes

From the perspective of the FTC, the POA would appear to be a perfect weapon for quickly bringing about industry-wide change.

The Penalty Offense Authority (POA) allows the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to seek civil penalties against a wrongdoing party where: (1) a final cease and desist order has been entered against a party in an administrative proceeding under Section 5(b) of the FTC Act; (2) the order identifies a specific practice as unfair or deceptive; and (3) a party with actual notice of the order has engaged in that practice after the order became final.