October, 20 2022, 02:29pm EDT
Statement on the DOJ's Latest Action Against Individuals Serving on Rival Corporate Boards
"Interlocking boards" have further concentrated power in our economy in the hands of an elite few.
WASHINGTON
Open Markets Institute released the following statement from Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan regarding the Department of Justice announcement that seven directors have resigned from corporate board positions in response to concerns by the Antitrust Division that their roles violated the Clayton Act's prohibition on interlocking directorates:
"The Open Markets Institute applauds the Department of Justice and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter for committing to end the harmful and illegal practice of individuals sitting on the boards of two or more rival corporations. Section 8 of the Clayton Act generally prohibits such "interlocking directorates" among competitors, which are a device for further concentrating power in the economy in the hands of an elite few. The recent resignation of seven directors from five corporations is an early payoff from the DOJ's clear commitment to enforcing this law. With these resignations and AAG Kanter ready to vigorously enforce Section 8, powerful financial interests, including private equity firms, are on notice that they will not be able to consolidate and maintain control by creating interlocking directorates among competing firms. We hope to see the Department of Justice enforce Section 8 across the entire economy and hold all violators accountable."
The Open Markets Institute works to address threats to our democracy, individual liberties, and our national security from today's unprecedented levels of corporate concentration and monopoly power. By combining policy, legal, and market structure expertise with sophisticated communications and outreach efforts, Open Markets seeks not only to hold today's monopolies accountable for abuse of power, but to rebuild an economic system where progress is easier to achieve, because power is far more widely and equitably distributed
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Organizers said this week's demonstrations "were just the beginning" of what they're calling a "Summer of Heat" targeting big banks for their role in the climate emergency and for "polluting our land, air, and water, and threatening the health of children, families, and our planet." Citigroup is the world's second-largest fossil fuel financier.
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Jonathan Westin, executive director of Climate Defenders, asserted that "Citigroup's racist funding of oil, coal, and gas is creating climate chaos that's devastating communities of color across the country."
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Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
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According to the protest organizers:
Citi has provided $668 million in funding to Formosa Plastics between 2001-2021, which is trying to build a $9.4 billion plastics facility in a majority Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley in Louisiana.
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