§ 37. — Immunity from antitrust laws.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC37]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 1--MONOPOLIES AND COMBINATIONS IN RESTRAINT OF TRADE
Sec. 37. Immunity from antitrust laws
(a) Inapplicability of antitrust laws
Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the antitrust
laws, and any State law similar to any of the antitrust laws, shall not
apply to charitable gift annuities or charitable remainder trusts.
(b) Immunity
Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, any person
subjected to any legal proceeding for damages, injunction, penalties, or
other relief of any kind under the antitrust laws, or any State law
similar to any of the antitrust laws, on account of setting or agreeing
to rates of return or other terms for, negotiating, issuing,
participating in, implementing, or otherwise being involved in the
planning, issuance, or payment of charitable gift annuities or
charitable remainder trusts shall have immunity from suit under the
antitrust laws, including the right not to bear the cost, burden, and
risk of discovery and trial, for the conduct set forth in this
subsection.
(c) Treatment of certain annuities and trusts
Any annuity treated as a charitable gift annuity, or any trust
treated as a charitable remainder trust, either--
(1) in any filing by the donor with the Internal Revenue
Service; or
(2) in any schedule, form, or written document provided by or on
behalf of the donee to the donor;
shall be conclusively presumed for the purposes of this section and
section 37a of this title to be respectively a charitable gift annuity
or a charitable remainder trust, unless there has been a final
determination by the Internal Revenue Service that, for fraud or
otherwise, the donor's annuity or trust did not qualify respectively as
a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust when created.
(d) Limitation
Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply with respect
to the enforcement of a State law similar to any of the antitrust laws,
with respect to charitable gift annuities, or charitable remainder
trusts, created after the State enacts a statute, not later than
December 8, 1998, that expressly provides that subsections (a) and (b)
of this section shall not apply with respect to such charitable gift
annuities and such charitable remainder trusts.
(Pub. L. 104-63, Sec. 2, Dec. 8, 1995, 109 Stat. 687; Pub. L. 105-26,
Sec. 2(1), July 3, 1997, 111 Stat. 241.)
References in Text
For definition of ``antitrust laws'', referred to in text, see
section 37a(1) of this title.
Amendments
1997--Pub. L. 105-26 amended section generally. Prior to amendment,
section related to modification of antitrust laws to allow two or more
charitable organizations to use, or to agree to use, the same annuity
rate in issuing one or more charitable gift annuities and to limitations
on such conduct.
Effective Date of 1997 Amendment
Section 3 of Pub. L. 105-26 provided that: ``This Act [see Short
Title of 1997 Amendments note set out under section 1 of this title],
and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply with respect to all
conduct occurring before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this
Act [July 3, 1997] and shall apply in all administrative and judicial
actions pending on or commenced after the date of the enactment of this
Act.''
Effective Date
Section 4 of Pub. L. 104-63 provided that: ``This Act [enacting this
section, section 37a of this title, and provisions set out as a note
under section 1 of this title] shall apply with respect to conduct
occurring before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act
[Dec. 8, 1995].''
Study and Report
Section 4 of Pub. L. 105-26 provided that:
``(a) Study and Report.--The Attorney General shall carry out a
study to determine the effect of this Act [see Short Title of 1997
Amendments note set out under section 1 of this title] on markets for
noncharitable annuities, charitable gift annuities, and charitable
remainder trusts. The Attorney General shall prepare a report
summarizing the results of the study.
``(b) Details of Study and Report.--The report referred to in
subsection (a) shall include any information on possible inappropriate
activity resulting from this Act and any recommendations for legislative
changes, including recommendations for additional enforcement resources.
``(c) Submission of Report.--The Attorney General shall submit the
report referred to in subsection (a) to the Chairman and the ranking
member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives, and to the Chairman and the ranking member of the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, not later than 27 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act [July 3, 1997].''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 37a of this title.
