header-logo header-logo

£200m Mastercard settlement confirmed

26 February 2025
Issue: 8106 / Categories: Legal News , Competition , Collective action , Litigation funding , Consumer
printer mail-detail
The Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) has approved the £200m settlement between Mastercard and Walter Merricks, in a claim initially valued at £14bn.

Merricks acted as class representative in the opt-out collective proceedings against the bank over multilateral interchange fees charged by Mastercard between 1992 and 2007. The settlement, agreed in December, was challenged by litigation funder Innsworth Capital as too low.

Approving the settlement last week, however, CAT member Hodge Malek KC said: ‘Mr Merricks has tirelessly fought for the benefit of class members over the last eight years and that is appreciated.

‘The fact that the outcome has been disappointing in the light of how the evidence and the rulings had developed does not detract from that.’

Merricks’ solicitor, Boris Bronfentrinker, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, said: ‘These proceedings started off as a landmark case in setting the foundation for collective actions in the UK and it will end being as equally ground-breaking in a settlement achieved under heavy attack and challenge by the litigation funder.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
back-to-top-scroll