(a) That authority to enforce
compliance with sections 2, 3, 7, and 8 of this Act by the persons
respectively subject thereto is hereby vested in the Surface Transportation
Board where applicable to common carriers subject to jurisdiction
under subtitle IV of title 49, United States Code; in the Federal
Communications Commission where applicable to common carriers engaged
in wire or radio communication or radio transmission of energy; in
the Secretary of Transportation where applicable to air carriers and
foreign air carriers subject to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958;
in the Federal Reserve Board where applicable to banks, banking associations,
and trust companies; and in the Federal Trade Commission where applicable
to all other character of commerce to be exercised as follows:
1-408
(b) Whenever the Commission, Board, or Secretary vested
with jurisdiction thereof shall have reason to believe that any person
is violating or has violated any of the provisions of sections 2,
3, 7, and 8 of this Act, it shall issue and serve upon such person
and the Attorney General a complaint stating its charges in that respect,
and containing a notice of a hearing upon a day and at a place therein
fixed at least thirty days after the service of said complaint. The
person so complained of shall have the right to appear at the place
and time so fixed and show cause why an order should not be entered
by the Commission, Board, or Secretary requiring such person to cease
and desist from the violation of the law so charged in said complaint.
The Attorney General shall have the right to intervene and appear
in said proceeding and any person may make application, and upon good
cause shown may be allowed by the Commission, Board, or Secretary,
to intervene and appear in said proceeding by counsel or in person.
The testimony in any such proceeding shall be reduced to writing and
filed in the office of the Commission, Board, or Secretary. If upon
such hearing the Commission, Board, or Secretary, as the case may
be, shall be of the opinion that any of the provisions of said sections
have been or are being violated, it shall make a report in writing,
in which it shall state its findings as to the facts, and shall issue
and cause to be served on such person an order requiring such person
to cease and desist from such violations, and divest itself of the
stock, or other share capital, or assets, held or rid itself of the
directors chosen contrary to the provisions of sections 7 and 8 of
this Act, if any there be, in the manner and within the time fixed
by said order. Until the expiration of the time allowed for filing
a petition for review, if no such petition has been duly filed within
such time, or, if a petition for review has been filed within such
time then until the record in the proceeding has been filed in a court
of appeals of the United States, as hereinafter provided, the Commission,
Board, or Secretary may at any time, upon such notice and in such
manner as it shall deem proper, modify or set aside, in whole or in
part, any report or any order made or issued by it under this section.
After the expiration of the time allowed for filing a petition for
review, if no such petition has been duly filed within such time, the Commission,
Board, or Secretary may at any time, after notice and opportunity
for hearing, reopen and alter, modify, or set aside, in whole or in
part, any report or order made or issued by it under this section,
whenever in the opinion of the Commission, Board, or Secretary conditions
of fact or of law have so changed as to require such action or if
the public interest shall so require: Provided, however, That
the said person may, within sixty days after service upon him or it
of said report or order entered after such a reopening, obtain a review
thereof in the appropriate court of appeals of the United States,
in the manner provided in subsection (c) of this section.
1-409
(c) Any person required by such order of the Commission, Board, or
Secretary to cease and desist from any such violation may obtain a
review of such order in the court of appeals of the United States
for any circuit within which such violation occurred or within which
such person resides or carries on business, by filing in the court,
within sixty days after the date of the service of such order, a written
petition praying that the order of the Commission, Board, or Secretary
to be set aside. A copy of such petition shall be forthwith transmitted
by the clerk of the court to the Commission, Board, or Secretary,
and thereupon the Commission, Board, or Secretary shall file in the
court the record in the proceeding, as provided in section 2112 of
title 28, United States Code. Upon such filing of the petition the
court shall have jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the question
determined therein concurrently with the Commission, Board, or Secretary
until the filing of the record, and shall have power to make and enter
a decree affirming, modifying, or setting aside the order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary, and enforcing the same to the extent that such
order is affirmed, and to issue writs as are ancillary to its jurisdiction
or are necessary in its judgment to prevent injury to the public or
to competitors pendente lite. The findings of the Commission, Board,
or Secretary as to the facts, if supported by substantial evidence,
shall be conclusive. To the extent that the order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary is affirmed, the court shall issue its own order
commanding obedience to the terms of such order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary. If either party shall apply to the court for
leave to adduce additional evidence, and shall show to the satisfaction
of the court that such additional evidence is material and that there
were reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce such evidence in
the proceeding before the Commission, Board, or Secretary, the court
may order such additional evidence to be taken before the Commission,
Board, or Secretary, and to be adduced upon the hearing in such manner
and upon such terms and conditions as to the court may seem proper.
The Commission, Board, or Secretary may modify its findings as to
the facts, or make new findings, by reason of the additional evidence
so taken, and shall file such modified or new findings, which, if
supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, and its recommendation,
if any, for the modification or setting aside of its original order,
with the return of such additional evidence. The judgment and decree
of the court shall be final, except that the same shall be subject
to review by the Supreme Court upon certiorari, as provided in section
1254 of title 28 of the United States Code.
1-410
(d) Upon the
filing of the record with it the jurisdiction of the court of appeals
to affirm, enforce, modify, or set aside orders of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary shall be exclusive.
(e) No
order of the Commission, Board, or Secretary or judgment of the court
to enforce the same shall in anywise relieve or absolve any person
from any liability under the antitrust laws.
(f)
Complaints, orders, and other processes of the Commission or Board
under this section may be served by anyone duly authorized by the
Commission, Board, or Secretary, either, (1) by delivering a copy
thereof to the person to be served, or to a member of the partnership to be served,
or to the president, secretary, or other executive officer or a director
of the corporation to be served; or (2) by leaving a copy thereof
at the residence or the principal office or place of business of such
person; or (3) by mailing by registered or certified mail a copy thereof
addressed to such person at his or its residence or principal office
or place of business. The verified return by the person so serving
said complaint, order, or other process setting forth the manner of
said service shall be proof of the same, and the return post office
receipt for said complaint, order, or other process mailed by registered
or certified mail as aforesaid shall be proof of the service of the
same.
1-411
(g) any order issued under subsection (b) shall become
final—
(1) Upon the expiration
of the time allowed for filing a petition for review, if no such petition
has been duly filed within such time; but the Commission, Board, or
Secretary may thereafter modify or set aside its order to the extent
provided in the last sentence of subsection (b); or
(2) Upon the expiration of the time allowed
for filing a petition for certiorari, if the order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary has been affirmed, or the petition for review
has been dismissed by the court of appeals, and no petition for certiorari
has been duly filed; or
(3) Upon the denial of a petition for certiorari, if the order of
the Commission, Board, or Secretary has been affirmed or the petition
for review has been dismissed by the court of appeals; or
(4) Upon the expiration of
thirty days from the date of issuance of the mandate of the Supreme
Court, if such Court directs that the order of the Commission, Board
or Secretary be affirmed or the petition for review be dismissed.
1-412
(h) If the Supreme Court directs that the order of
the Commission or Board be modified or set aside, the order of the
Commission, Board, or Secretary rendered in accordance with the mandate
of the Supreme Court shall become final upon the expiration of thirty
days from the time it was rendered, unless within such thirty days
either party has instituted proceedings to have such order corrected
to accord with the mandate, in which event the order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary shall become final when so corrected.
(i) If the order of the Commission, Board, or Secretary
is modified or set aside by the court of appeals, and if (1) the time
allowed for filing a petition for certiorari has expired and no such
petition has been duly filed, or (2) the petition for certiorari has
been denied, or (3) the decision of the court has been affirmed by
the Supreme Court, then the order of the Commission, Board, or Secretary
rendered in accordance with the mandate of the court of appeals shall
become final on the expiration of thirty days from the time such order
of the Commission, Board, or Secretary was rendered, unless within
such thirty days either party has instituted proceedings to have such
order corrected so that it will accord with the mandate, in which
event the order of the Commission, Board, or Secretary shall become
final when so corrected.
1-413
(j) If the Supreme
Court orders a rehearing; or if the case is remanded by the court
of appeals to the Commission, Board, or Secretary for a rehearing,
and if (1) the time allowed for filing a petition for certiorari has
expired, and no such petition has been duly filed, or (2) the petition
for certiorari has been denied, or (3) the decision of the court has
been affirmed by the Supreme Court, then the order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary rendered upon such rehearing shall become final
in the same manner as though no prior order of the Commission, Board,
or Secretary had been rendered.
(k) As used in
this section the term “mandate”, in case a mandate has been recalled
prior to the expiration of thirty days from the date of issuance thereof,
means the final mandate.
(l) Any person who
violates any order issued by the Commission, Board, or Secretary under
subsection (b) after such order has become final, and while such order
is in effect, shall forfeit and pay to the United States a civil penalty
of not more than $5,000 for each violation, which shall accrue to
the United States and may be recovered in a civil action brought by
the United States. Each separate violation of any such order shall
be a separate offense, except that in the case of a violation through
continuing failure or neglect to obey a final order of the Commission,
Board, or Secretary each day of continuance of such failure or neglect
shall be deemed a separate offense.
[15 USC 21. As amended
by acts of June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1102); Aug. 23, 1935 (49 Stat.
704); June 23, 1938 (52 Stat. 1028); Dec. 29, 1950 (64 Stat. 1125);
Aug. 28, 1958 (72 Stat. 943); July 23, 1959 (73 Stat. 243); Oct. 3,
1984 (98 Stat. 1708); Nov. 11, 1984 (98 Stat. 3358); and Dec. 29,
1995 (109 Stat. 949).]