CLEAR Act of 2016

Clarifying Legality and Enforcement Action Reasoning Act of 2016 or the CLEAR Act of 2016

This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to submit an annual report to Congress about its investigations concerning unfair or deceptive acts or practices, or unfair methods of competition, in or affecting commerce. The reports must detail:

• the number of such investigations the FTC has commenced and the disposition of investigations that concluded with official agency action; and
• the number of investigations the FTC has closed with no official agency action, along with a description that indicates the legal analysis supporting the FTC's decision not to continue such investigations, and the industry sectors of the entities subject to each such investigation.

The bill prohibits the FTC from identifying a person who is the subject of an investigation in its description of an investigation that closed with no official agency action.