1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: The numbers are shocking price hikes of at least two 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: and about ninety generic drugs sold in the US over 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: the past three years, maybe due to collusion among drug manufacturers. 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: That's according to a study that comes in the middle 5 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: of a Justice Department investigation into pharmaceutical price fixing. The 6 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: former CEO of Touring Pharmaceuticals, Martin Screlly, came under fire 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: for raising the price of dara prine more than fiftyfold. 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: He told Bloomberg that he would do it again. So 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: it's not like I'm surprising and saying to do it again. 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,279 Speaker 1: Everybody is doing it. In capitalism, you try to get 11 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: the highest price for that you can for a product. 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: Screlly is facing trial on unrelated federal charges of securities fraud. 13 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: Last week, twenty States filed a civil complaint alleging executives 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: at companies agreed at trade shows, golf games, and private 15 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: dinners to pump up the cost of antibiotics and medication 16 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: used to treat diabetes. The bottom line is that right now, 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: there is little consumed comers can do about the price 18 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: of their drugs. Our guest is Jennifer Ree, senior litigation 19 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Jen the Antitrust Division of the 20 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: Justice Department has been looking into price fixing allegations for 21 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: the past two years. How widespread is the alleged collusion 22 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: among drug copies, among drug companies, and who are the 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: major players? Well, hi June, thanks for having me um. 24 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: You know it, we're just at the beginning, so I 25 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: think it's already widespread, but I believe it's probably going 26 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: to get even more widespread. And right now you're looking 27 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: at subpoenas at least received by you know, just about 28 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: every big generic company you can think of, you know, Milon, Teva, 29 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: Landet Impacts, Son Maine, par Pharma, which is owned by Endo. Now, 30 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: of course, just because these companies have gotten subpoenas doesn't 31 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: mean that they're involved in any kind of wrongdoing, but 32 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: it's at least at this point the d o J 33 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: has decided it's important enough to just spread out and 34 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: look at all of them. And in addition to that, 35 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: you actually have a lawsuit that's already been filed now 36 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: by the state of led by the state of Connecticut, 37 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: but joined by about nineteen other states, at least covering 38 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: two drugs. They're talking about an antibiotic, a very popular, 39 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: commonly used antibiotic called doxy cycling, and another medication for 40 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: oral diabetes called gliberride. And it seems like they have 41 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: some pretty good evidence, um, at least with based on 42 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: what they're talking about in that suit, that some of 43 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,519 Speaker 1: these companies may have gotten together and talked about this. Um. 44 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: You know the important thing here when you played that 45 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: clip by Martin Screlly and and we were listening to 46 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: his comments, and I think for antitrust and the important 47 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: thing here is that companies can raise their prices unilaterally 48 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: and it's not necessarily a violation of the law. And 49 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: they can even watch what their competitors are doing. They 50 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: might see that a competitor raise the price and then 51 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: raise their price trying to make more money for the 52 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: company and for their shareholders, not necessarily against the law. 53 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: But June, what they can't do is get together and 54 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: decide collectively to agree, you know, hey, we're all beating 55 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: each other up competing. We need to stop doing that 56 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: because we can all raise our prices if we don't 57 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: do that. And that's what the DJ is looking at. Here. 58 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: Two executives of a small generic drug maker are preparing 59 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: to plead guilty to price fixing charges in January, and 60 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: those are the first criminal charges in this investigation. What 61 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: does that suggest about the future of the investigation. Well, 62 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: I'll tell you this, um, that is a really good 63 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: sign that there will be more private suits and that 64 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: those private suits will have some success. And I say 65 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: that because those executives, from what I understand, will not 66 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: only plead guilty, but they've agreed now to cooperate with 67 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: the government and they can do that, you know, for 68 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: some leniency, lower fines, lower you know, sent in jail sentences. 69 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: And what that means is they're just going to turn 70 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: over all their documents and tell them what they've been 71 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: doing and who they've been talking to. And basically they're 72 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: going to be a whistleblower. And that's really important here 73 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: because in these conspiracy cases and antitrust they're very, very 74 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: difficult to prove. You you can't just show the companies 75 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: raise their price, but you have to show an agreement. 76 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: And it's you know, it's very rare the companies are 77 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: getting together in a smoke filled room or executives and saying, hey, 78 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: let's all charge a hundred dollars for this product. So 79 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: usually plaintiffs are using circumstantial evidence, and again it can 80 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,359 Speaker 1: be difficult to prove with circumstantial evidence. But where you 81 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: have whistleblowers, companies and executives willing to turn over materials, 82 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: um emails, maybe chat rooms or even uh, you know, 83 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 1: just discuss or testify about a discussion, you now have 84 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: some pretty good solid evidence against others. The average price jump, 85 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: according to the study among the ninety drugs, was fifty percent. 86 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: But as you said, increases alone or not proof of collusion. 87 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: What have the companies said to explain these hikes? You know, 88 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: I've thought about those hikes, and you look at the 89 00:04:57,920 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: graphs and they look pretty bad. And I have to 90 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: think in my head, if they really wanted to increase price, 91 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: fix and increase their price, why did they go so far? 92 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: You know, why didn't they do something that was less obvious. 93 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: What they are saying so far, at least as far 94 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: as I've seen, is that they're taking those profits. That 95 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: there are many different reasons that there could be that 96 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: their inputs increased or other costs of production increased. But 97 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: they're also saying that they're taking those profits and they're 98 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: turning them around and putting them back into the company 99 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: and you know, back into coming up with more generic drugs. 100 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: And it's expensive to get the FDA approvals and develop 101 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: the drugs. But so far, I think the d O 102 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: J in the States aren't really buying it, and I 103 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: don't think they've at least as I've yet seen the 104 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: evidence of that. The US doesn't regulate drug prices, but 105 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: a U. S. Senate committee just released a report calling 106 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: for pricing legislation, including importation and faster approval of competing drugs. 107 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: Would that solve some of this? You know, it might. Uh, certainly, 108 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: the faster FDA approval access for generic drugs can can 109 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: be a very good thing. The statistics show that the 110 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: quicker and the more and the sooner generic drugs come 111 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: on the market, the more the prices dropped for everything, 112 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: including the original brand drug. UM. You know, some regulation 113 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: of prices might have some some benefit. But what I 114 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: did see was this had to do with regulation of 115 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: prices in relation to medicare UM. And I you know, 116 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:28,799 Speaker 1: at this point to what you're looking at is conduct 117 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: that occurred in the past, So you know now that 118 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: this is all kind of broken wide open. I would 119 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: imagine going forward, these companies are already going to be 120 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: much more careful about what they're doing with price. What 121 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: this is digging into is allegations that this has been 122 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: ongoing for several years and up through today. So are 123 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: we looking at huge penalties if that's proven. Yes, any 124 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: number of things. Executives could go to jail. Price fixing 125 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: is criminal under the antitrust laws, so this can be 126 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: up to um I believe a ten year sentence for individuals. 127 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: They can also be fined up to one million dollars. 128 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: Companies can be fined up to a hundred million dollars. 129 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: In general, there are alternative fines that can go over that, 130 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: and to be honest, most of the price fixing finds 131 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: recently have gone over that, so there can be really 132 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: big fines. We saw fines approaching five million in an 133 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: auto parts investigation that was similar similar price fixing allegations. 134 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: But June I actually think the bigger problem for the 135 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: companies maybe the private cases, because what happens as soon 136 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: as the d o J finds criminal price fixing and 137 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: starts getting guilty please, you have just a slew of 138 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: private plaintiff class action cases brought by insurance companies and 139 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: consumers and pharmacies, any buyers of these products. And we 140 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: already see one to three, four, five, six of about 141 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: ten cases covering about ten different drugs. I think it's 142 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: just the beginning and we'll see more. And the reason 143 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: in those cases are so tough for the defendants June 144 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: is because when you lose an antitrust case, your damages 145 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: are automatically tripled. Just why does the Justice Department decide 146 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: to investigate certain deals and certain industries for antitrust reasons? 147 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: We are talking with an expert in that area, Jennifer Ray. 148 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: She's a senior litigation analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Jen what 149 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: makes the Justice Department look at a company or at 150 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: a deal? Well, you know, to start um, every deal 151 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: of a certain size gets filed before the government, but 152 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: both the ATC and the Department of Justice, because they 153 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: have a tendency if a deal needs to be reviewed 154 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: to split them between them that they each take the 155 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: area where they have more expertise generally, and once those 156 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: when those deals are filed, just a very small amount 157 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,839 Speaker 1: of initial information goes into the government and they can 158 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: usually look at that that information and say, hey, you 159 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: know what we're not sure. We believe these are two 160 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 1: competitors merging, and we're not sure how many other competitors 161 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: are there. You know, is this going to be too 162 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: concentrated a market? And should we look at it more 163 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: carefully before we just green light this deal. I think 164 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: most mergers that get reviewed are that type that we 165 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: call a horizontal deal, where the government observes that a 166 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: deal that was filed is between two competitors in a 167 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: big industry and they should take a closer look, and 168 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: that's how they make the decision at least to get 169 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: into an investigation of that deal. So, Jen, we have 170 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: talked about the A T and T Time Warner deal, 171 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: and that's one that President elect Donald Trump has come 172 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: out against. We don't know what exactly that means as 173 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: far as what the Justice Department is going to be doing, 174 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: but tell us about that deal and what the chances 175 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: are for it to go forward in your opinion, Sure, 176 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: I think that's such an interesting deal right now June, 177 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: and people are talking about it because I think in 178 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,839 Speaker 1: the normal course, that deal is what you'd call a 179 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,559 Speaker 1: vertical deal, different than the ones that I just discussed 180 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: where the two companies don't compete. You know, they're not 181 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: competing for consumers right now. They deal with each other. 182 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,119 Speaker 1: One creates the content time warner and the other distributes 183 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: the content and um A T and T. So we 184 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: think of them as having a vertical relationship. And in 185 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: the antitrust world, vertical deals usually are thought to be 186 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: mostly pro competitive. They can cause the market harms, but 187 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: they're generally thought to be pro competitive because if that 188 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: kind of combination is usually good, it fosters innovation. UM 189 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: it's a it's a secured source of supply for both sides. 190 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: It can save money and doesn't generally harm consumers in 191 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: the form of lower prices because they don't compete against 192 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: each other and you're not concentrating a market. So when 193 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: this deal came along, most antitrust thinkers would say, well, 194 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: that's probably going to be fine. They'll take a look 195 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: at it, but but it shouldn't raise a lot of concerns. 196 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: But then Donald Trump made the comments that he made, 197 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: which is I think why so many people have been 198 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,199 Speaker 1: thinking and talking about this deal, where he said, I 199 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,839 Speaker 1: think this is no hood and I think it's a 200 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: kind of deal that my administration would like to block. 201 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: My feeling about it, June, is that once people are 202 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: put in place at the Department of Justice to look 203 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: at this and they take the traditional you know, sort 204 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: of the traditional studied way of doing it, the professional way, 205 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: these deals are looked at, and they walk through it. 206 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: They might want some modifications of behavior, some promises that 207 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: a T and T won't favor Time Warner content or 208 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: somehow discriminate against other distributors. Um. But I think this 209 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: deal should go through. I think it's likely the deal 210 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: will go through. Jen. How often does a president get 211 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: involved in what kind of deals go through? Well, they rarely, 212 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: do you know, it really would be unprecedented And I 213 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: say precedented, um Um, it's not. There have been rumors 214 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: in the past sometimes of some involvement, but it's just 215 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: generally something they leave to their anti drust experts who 216 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: are at the agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, in the 217 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: Department of Justice, um and and aren't usually involved. So 218 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: it'll be different and interesting and new if we do 219 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: see a President Trump who tries to get his hands 220 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: dirty in the anti trust area. You know what I've 221 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: said before is that even if he does try to 222 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: push his decision makers to go in a certain way. 223 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: At the end of the day, they still have to 224 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: go before a judge, both a PC and d J 225 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: and get a judge order blocking a deal to keep 226 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: parties from closing. So really, at the end of the 227 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: day is up to that judge and the evidence that 228 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: they're able to put in front of that judge. It 229 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: will be a very interesting year and anti trust and 230 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: we look forward to talking with you more about all 231 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: the deals coming up. Thanks so much for joining us. 232 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: Jen that's Jennifer Re, senior litigation analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. 233 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: And for more on Jen's analysis of antitrust and other deals, 234 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: you can go to b I go on the Bloomberg terminal. 235 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: Coming up on Bloomberg Law. For the first time, the 236 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: Justice Department is suing one of the banks at the 237 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: center of its investigation over the sale of mortgage backed 238 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 1: securities ahead of the financial crisis. Barklay's decides to buck 239 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,359 Speaker 1: the trend and not to settle with the Justice Department. 240 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: Deutsche Bank has settled just yesterday. That's coming up on 241 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,359 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Block. This is Bloomberg