FINANCIAL SERVICES/COMPETITION : COURT UPHOLDS 10.2 MN EURO FINE ON VISA.

The European Commission's fine of 10.2 million, imposed on 3 October 2007 on Visa International and Visa Europe - for preventing a competitor from joining its credit card network - has been upheld by the EU General Court. In a judgement issued on 14 April, the court dismisses Visa's arguments for annulment or reduction of the fine and restates the criteria for definition of a potential competitor' (Case T-461/07).

The dispute concerned the refusal, between March 2000 and September 2006, to admit the European subsidiary of Morgan Stanley to the European Union region of Visa International and Visa Europe, on the ground that Morgan Stanley owned the Discover Card network, considered to be a competitor of the Visa network. The market in question is the so-called acquiring' market, namely the provision to merchants of services enabling them to accept credit card and deferred debit card transactions.

In September 2006, Morgan Stanley was recognised as a member and withdrew the complaint it had lodged with the Commission. However, the executive decided to fine Visa International and Visa Europe since Morgan Stanley had been excluded from the UK acquiring market for six and a half years. It noted that the disputed behaviour had prevented a potential competitor from entering a market that featured a high degree of concentration.

Visa argued that Morgan Stanley could have concluded a "fronting arrangement" with a Visa member financial institution, capable of acting as an interface between...