Fasken acts for Canada’s leading credit card issuer, Royal Bank of Canada, in this class action brought against all of the major issuers and the VISA/MasterCard credit card networks in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. The central issue is whether the interchange fees paid by merchants in the Visa and MasterCard networks are lawful.
The Plaintiff merchants allege anti-competitive conduct contrary to the Competition Act, RSC 1985, c C-34, common-law conspiracy, interference with economic issues and waiver of tort. They seek damages for the difference between the interchange fees they have paid and the lower interchange fees they say they would have paid had the allegedly anti-competitive conduct not occurred.
This is likely the largest civil claim in Canada at this time.
The case is now proceeding to trial on the narrowed, but still substantial, claims and will be in discovery and pre-trial until the Fall of 2019.
Fasken was counsel to the Royal Bank of Canada with a team led by Geoff Cowper, Q.C. and Andrew Borrell, and included Paul Martin, Layne Hellrung, Alexandra Mitretodis and Tom Posyniak.
The Plaintiff merchants allege anti-competitive conduct contrary to the Competition Act, RSC 1985, c C-34, common-law conspiracy, interference with economic issues and waiver of tort. They seek damages for the difference between the interchange fees they have paid and the lower interchange fees they say they would have paid had the allegedly anti-competitive conduct not occurred.
This is likely the largest civil claim in Canada at this time.
The case is now proceeding to trial on the narrowed, but still substantial, claims and will be in discovery and pre-trial until the Fall of 2019.
Fasken was counsel to the Royal Bank of Canada with a team led by Geoff Cowper, Q.C. and Andrew Borrell, and included Paul Martin, Layne Hellrung, Alexandra Mitretodis and Tom Posyniak.
