Next Stop on the FTC’s Rulemaking Train: Proposed Revisions to the Business Opportunity Rule

The FTC voted unanimously to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) considering expansions to and revisions of the FTC’s existing Business Opportunity Rule (“BOR”). This will be the first review of the BOR since it was promulgated back in December 2011. In her statement announcing the ANPR, Chair Khan indicated that “[t]he rule had served the public well over the years,” but ​“several varieties of scams . . . fall outside the scope of the existing rule, [including] certain kinds of business coaching and work-from-home programs, investment programs, and e-commerce opportunities.” In a familiar refrain in the FTC’s push for rulemaking, Chair Khan argued that ​“case-by-case enforcement has key limitations—especially after the Supreme Court’s AMG decision” finding that the FTC lacked authority to obtain equitable monetary redress under Section 13(b).