McGuireWoods London partner Matthew Hall was prominently quoted in a Jan. 24 Law360 story about a €570 million ($648 million U.S.) European Commission fine against MasterCard for violating European Union antitrust laws and potential repercussions of the EC’s ruling.
The commission’s action involved so-called interchange fees that a merchant’s bank pays to the cardholder’s bank when transactions are made with debit or credit cards. The fine against MasterCard was over rules that required banks to charge interchange fees based on the country where the merchant is based, precluding retailers from doing business with banks in other countries that offer lower fees.
The EC’s fine likely will spawn additional claims against MasterCard, said Hall, a highly regarded antitrust/competition lawyer.
“A huge amount of follow-on damages litigation in the EU has come out of the various card decisions and this one will inevitably result in more,” he told Law360.