FTC to Review Business Opportunity Rule by End of Year

Commissioner Chopra pushes for removal of direct selling exemption

By:  David Bland

It is alarming that the FTC seems to have prejudged the public comment process and concluded that the scope of the Rule should be expanded to impose a new regimen of rules and regulations on the direct selling industry.

—Larry Steinberg, Chair of Multilevel Marketing Industry Group, Buchalter

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on June 14 a review of the Business Opportunity Rule by the end of the year. The Rule was first proposed in 2006 and was finalized with amendments in 2012 after direct selling companies and the Direct Selling Association (DSA) vigorously argued for, and ultimately received, a generalized exclusion from the Rule.