Brief Histories of U.S. Government Agencies Volume Three by Michael Erbschloe - HTML preview

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission was created on September 26, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act into law. The FTC opened its doors on March 16, 1915. The FTC's mission is to protect consumers and promote competition. As the FTC celebrates its 100th anniversary, thoughts turn to its unique mission, significant events in Commission history, and its staff, stakeholders and constituents – present and past. On January 12, 2015, President Barack Obama visited the Commission, the first presidential visit to the Commission since 1937

When the FTC was created in 1914, its purpose was to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as part of the battle to “bust the trusts.” Over the years, Congress passed additional laws giving the agency greater authority to police anticompetitive practices. In 1938, Congress passed a broad prohibition against “unfair and deceptive acts or practices.” Since then, the Commission also has been directed to administer a wide variety of other consumer protection laws, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Pay-Per-Call Rule and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In 1975, Congress gave the FTC the authority to adopt industry-wide trade regulation rules.

The FTC established its headquarters at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., with President Franklin D. Roosevelt laying the cornerstone himself. Roosevelt remarked, “May this permanent home of the Federal Trade Commission stand for all time as a symbol of the purpose of the government to insist on a greater application of the golden rule to conduct the corporation and business enterprises in their relationship to the body politic.”

The building which is particularly known for its two art deco style statues, called “ Man Controlling Trade,” is located at the apex of the Federal Triangle, and was the culmination of the massive Depression-era government building project.  Commissioners and staff officially moved in on April 21, 1938, and the building continues to function as the FTC’s headquarters, serving the agency’s adjudicative, executive, policy, and administrative functions.

Under legislation sought by President Theodore Roosevelt, the FTC's predecessor, the Bureau of Corporations, was created on February 14, 1903. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of that event, the Bureau of Economics held a roundtable on September 4, 2003. More information about the roundtable, including a transcript, is available.

The FTC Mission

To prevent business practices that are anticompetitive or deceptive or unfair to consumers; to enhance informed consumer choice and public understanding of the competitive process; and to accomplish this without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.

The FTC Vision

A U.S. economy characterized by vigorous competition among producers and consumer access to accurate information, yielding high-quality products at low prices and encouraging efficiency, innovation, and consumer choice.

FTC Strategic Goals

1. Protect Consumers: Prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace.
2. Maintain Competition: Prevent anticompetitive mergers and other anticompetitive business practices in the marketplace.
3. Advance Performance: Advance the FTC’s performance through organizational, individual, and management excellence.

How FTC Benefits Consumers

As a consumer or business person, you may be more familiar with the work of the Federal Trade Commission than you think. The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American.

The FTC is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers’ interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies. FTC’s work is performed by the Bureaus of Consumer Protection, Competition and Economics. That work is aided by the Office of General Counsel and seven regional offices. Learn more about the FTC's Competition mission...

When the FTC was created in 1914, its purpose was to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as part of the battle to “bust the trusts.” Over the years, Congress passed additional laws giving the agency greater authority to police anticompetitive practices. In 1938, Congress passed a broad prohibition against “unfair and deceptive acts or practices.” Since then, the Commission also has been directed to administer a wide variety of other consumer protection laws, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Pay-Per-Call Rule and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In 1975, Congress gave the FTC the authority to adopt industry-wide trade regulation rules.

Competition in America is about price, selection, and service. It benefits consumers by keeping prices low and the quality and choice of goods and services high. By enforcing antitrust laws, the FTC helps ensure that our markets are open and free. The FTC will challenge anticompetitive mergers and business practices that could harm consumers by resulting in higher prices, lower quality, fewer choices, or reduced rates of innovation. We monitor business practices, review potential mergers, and challenge them when appropriate to ensure that the market works according to consumer preferences, not illegal practices.

FTC Bureaus

The Bureau of Competition seeks to prevent anticompetitive mergers and other anticompetitive business practices in the marketplace. By enforcing the antitrust laws, the Bureau promotes competition and protects consumers' freedom to choose goods and services in an open marketplace at a price and quality that fit their needs.

Bureau of Consumer Protection's mandate is to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive or fraudulent practices. The Bureau enforces a variety of consumer protection laws enacted by Congress, as well as trade regulation rules issued by the Commission. Its actions include individual company and industry-wide investigations, administrative and federal court litigation, rulemaking proceedings, and consumer and business education. In addition, the Bureau contributes to the Commission's on-going efforts to inform Congress and other government entities of the impact that proposed actions could have on consumers.

The Bureau of Economics helps the FTC evaluate the economic impact of its actions. To do so, the Bureau provides economic analysis and support to antitrust and consumer protection investigations and rulemakings. It also analyzes the impact of government regulation on competition and consumers and provides Congress, the Executive Branch and the public with economic analysis of market processes as they relate to antitrust, consumer protection, and regulation.

FY 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

• The FTC collected $707 million for redress disgorgement, including $458 million from an antitrust settlement and $120 million from two Bureau of Consumer Protection settlements.
• The FTC returned more than $49 million in redress funds to consumers and over $155 million to the U.S. Treasury derived from fees, redress disgorgements, and fines.
• The FTC saved consumers over $3.4 billion through its merger and nonmerger actions and over $717 million through its consumer protection law enforcement actions.
• The FTC and its data contributors added over 7.1 million consumer complaints to the agency’s Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) database. CSN is currently accessible to more than 2,000 law enforcement partner agencies worldwide.
• The FTC increased the number of partners using consumer and business education materials to over 16,000 in FY 2015.
• The FTC continues to rank highly in various categories of OPM’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Compared to 37 other federal agencies with over 1,000 employees, the FTC ranked first on the Employee Engagement Index, second on the Diversity and Inclusion – New IQ Index, and sixth on the Global Satisfaction Index.
• The FTC ranked fourth out of 23 mid-size agencies in the Partnership for Public Service’s 2015 “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” survey.

FY 2014 HIGHLIGHTS

• The FTC returned more than $38 million in redress funds to consumers and over $147 million to the U.S. Treasury derived from fees, redress disgorgements, and fines.
• The FTC and its data contributors added over 5.62 million fraud, identity theft, financial, and Do Not Call complaints to the agency’s Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) database. CSN is currently accessible to more than 2,000 law enforcement partner agencies worldwide.
• The FTC saved consumers over $1.4 billion through its merger and nonmerger actions and over $701 million through its consumer protection law enforcement actions.
• The agency took action against mergers likely to harm competition in markets with a total of $18.6 billion in sales.
• The FTC increased the number of partners using consumer and business education materials to over 12,000 in FY 2014.
• The FTC continues to rank high in various categories of OPM’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Compared to 37 other federal agencies with over 1,000 employees, the FTC ranked first place in Results-Oriented Performance Culture and Leadership and Knowledge Management, second place in Talent Management, and fifth place in Job Satisfaction.
• The FTC ranked 4th out of 25 mid-size agencies in the Partnership for Public Service’s 2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey.

FY 2013 HIGHLIGHTS

• The FTC returned more than $36 million in redress funds to consumers and nearly $153 million to the U.S. Treasury derived from fees, redress disgorgements, and fines.
• This year marked the 10th anniversary of the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry, which gives consumers the opportunity to limit telemarketing calls. At the end of the fiscal year, there were more than 223 million active registrations on the DNC Registry. The FTC continued aggressive law enforcement against companies responsible for illegal robocalls, and held its first public challenge - the Robocall Challenge - to spur technological innovations to help stop illegal calls. Judges selected three winners, two of whom split the $50,000 prize for Best Overall Solution to block illegal robocalls. A third winner received the Robocall Challenge Technology Achievement Award.
• The FTC shared the more than 23 million consumer fraud, identity theft, financial, and DNC Registry complaints it has collected during the past five years with more than 2,000 law enforcement partner agencies worldwide.
• Over 11,000 unique organizations requested consumer education publications from the FTC. One new publication is “Safeguarding Your Child’s Future” about child identity theft. The FTC distributed over a quarter of a million copies in FY 2013.
• The FTC saved consumers over $1 billion through its merger and nonmerger actions.
• The agency took action against mergers likely to harm competition in markets with a total of $21.0 billion in sales.
• The agency achieved a prompt pay rate of 99.1 percent for all invoices processed.
• The FTC continues to rank highly in various categories of OPM’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Compared to 37 other federal agencies with over 1,000 employees, the FTC received first place in the category of Results-Oriented Performance Culture, second place in Talent Management, third place in Leadership, and fourth place in Job Satisfaction. The FTC was also ranked fourth overall in the Partnership for Public Service’s 2013 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey.

(Link: https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/our-history)