Walmart hires Federal Trade Commission veteran for lead antitrust role

Elizabeth Kraus, a former attorney for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, is joining Walmart’s Antitrust Center of Expertise, according to a Friday (March 31 email announcement from the retail giant.

Suzan Wachsstock, chief counsel for Antirust Legal and Compliance at Walmart, said Kraus’s wide-ranging experience will be invaluable as she guides Walmart’s global antitrust compliance program and advises the retailer on competition issues across the company. Kraus brings more than 27 years of antitrust legal experience, and relationships to the role.

Kraus will report to Wachsstock and her first day will be May 8. She most recently served as the U.S. deputy director for international antitrust in the Office of International Affairs. She also previously worked as counsel to the director of the FTC’s bureau of competition and counsel for multilateral affairs.

In these roles, she developed and implemented the FTC’s international strategy, represented the agency in multilateral discussions with competition regulators around the world, and created and led the team coordinating the agency’s international antitrust policy and bilateral cooperation work. She also collaborated with competition agencies around the globe to create best practice guidance on topics such as competition and the digital economy, merger notification procedures, and the assessment of dominance/substantial market power, with the goal of ensuring sound and effective antitrust policy and enforcement.

Prior to joining the FTC in 2002, she practiced competition law in the Brussels office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Kraus earned a juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.