The Federal Trade Commission on Friday told Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) it couldn’t tell him whether it was investigating Herbalife.
The FTC’s comments were in response to Markey’s request that the agency investigate claims that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme.
The lawmaker had asked both the FTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission to respond to his Jan. 23 letter requesting an investigation by Feb. 28.
By early Friday evening, the SEC had not responded.
FTC regulations bar it from discussing “what action, if any” the Commission is taking with regards to the allegations against Herbalife, FTC Chair Edith Ramirez said in her three-page letter.
“The information you provided and the concerns you expressed are being carefully considered,” she said, in the type of boilerplate response the FTC always gives to such queries.
The FTC considers “the nature and amount of consumer injury at issue and the number of consumers affected,” among other factors, including the likelihood of preventing future unlawful conduct, when undertaking an investigation.
“I thank the FTC for replying to my letter, and I am currently reviewing its response,” Markey said.