What Happened: On March 19, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) motion to stay a lower court’s order vacating the FTC’s new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification form. The FTC immediately provided guidance that it will be accepting the prior version of the HSR form.

The Bottom Line: Effective immediately (March 19, 2026), parties can use the pre-February 2025 HSR form for new filings. The FTC said it will continue to accept filings on the new form on a voluntary basis.

The Full Story: This development follows our alert regarding a district court’s finding that the FTC’s new rule was improperly promulgated and imposed undue burdens on filers. The FTC appealed that decision to the Fifth Circuit and asked for a temporary stay pending resolution of the appeal. The Fifth Circuit’s decision lifts the administrative stay, immediately vacating the expanded HSR requirements that became effective in February 2025.

HSR filings can now use the prior version of the form, which requires less information and is less burdensome for merging parties to prepare. As we noted previously, the FTC may still request information previously required by the vacated rule during the initial waiting period by issuing voluntary access letters, and such information could become part of Second Requests for more closely scrutinized transactions.

The FTC has filed a notice of appeal and could pursue further appellate review. For now, the status quo for HSR premerger notification has reverted to the prior process, providing some relief from the additional burdens imposed by the now-vacated new form.