The Spring Meeting is the largest gathering of competition, consumer protection, and data privacy professionals globally, with lawyers, academics, economists, enforcers, journalists, and students from around the world. During the 2026 Spring Meeting, Axinn associates attended thought leadership panels to capture key insights. Their report of the takeaways from the panel, “Blowing the Whistle: Cartel Detection Risk,” appears below.
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The DOJ Antitrust Division’s recently launched Whistleblower Rewards Program (“Whistleblower Program”) has been the buzz in the antitrust bar, especially following the announcement of the first bounty in January. The Spring Meeting panel, “Blowing the Whistle: Cartel Detection Risk,” provided perspectives on the program from former DOJ officials (Richard Powers and Manish Kumar) and Brendan Donahue of the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), as well as an international perspective from a former president of CADE, Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, and insights from the private bar from Kamil Shields. The panel additionally discussed the program from the whistleblower’s perspective.
The panel started with Donahue explaining the role of the U.S. Postal Service, its law enforcement arm (USPIS), and its longstanding (if not well known) relationship with the Antitrust Division and other agencies. Donahue also explained that the Postal Service remains an independent agency in the traditional...
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