The former head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said private equity firms deserve more attention from the White House.
Americans face “catastrophic consequences” for America if President Donald Trump’s antitrust team fails to properly investigate this sector, Lina Khan, recently resigned chair of the FTC, told the Financial Times (FT) in an interview Sunday (January 26).
She noted that private equity (PE) groups posed a particular threat to the U.S. healthcare system, and that given the stakes of our healthcare markets, it is extremely important that we remain vigilant here.
“If law enforcement decides to look the other way, I fear it will have catastrophic consequences for Americans,” she added.
Turning to the private equity sector, Khan argued that ‘roll-ups’ – where companies buy and combine multiple companies in the same sector sector – and ‘strip and flip’ models – where the assets of the acquired groups are sold – often leave these companies weakened debt.
“I heard an outpouring of concerns from healthcare workers, by ER doctors…about the private equity roll-ups that resulted in poorer quality of care, higher prices,” Khan said.
Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last week about the regulatory landscape under Trump through the lens of rules that controls artificial intelligence (AI).
Duane Pozza, former deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission who is now a partner at law firm Wiley Rein and co-chairs the Division of Privacy and Cybersecurity And data governance practice, told PYMNTS that Trump’s attempts to unravel former President Joe Biden’s AI work may be easier said than done.
“Most of it already in place,” Pozza said in an interview with PYMNTS. “So the real question … is, ‘What is the new administration doing in terms of the work that has already begun in the agencies?’ Is it trying to turn them back? Does it hold them back? Is it trying to do different things around AI?”
While Pozza said he believes Trump will impose fewer AI regulations than Biden, he pointed to the Trump administration’s first executive order in 2020 calling on federal agencies to use AI for the benefit of the American people. He said the same people would return for Trump’s second term.
