The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has handed down a judgment in which it proposes to grant a collective proceedings order in the Merricks v Mastercard case.

It is the first case to clear this hurdle under the UK’s nascent class action regime for competition damages claims, and it is now expected to proceed towards trial.

Based on a European Commission antitrust infringement decision relating to Mastercard’s intra-EEA fallback interchange fees, the claim sought £14 billion in damages on behalf of 46 million consumers when it was filed. Whilst certification was widely expected following a Supreme Court judgment at an earlier stage of the proceedings, the CAT’s judgment also limits the scope of the case by excluding the claims of deceased persons and the issue of compound interest. It has been estimated that this will reduce the value of the claim by around £5 billion.

Click here to read the full judgment.

Frontier advised Mastercard on the case and is advising a number of parties to other proposed collective proceedings before the CAT.

For more information please contact media@frontier-economics.com, or call +44 (0)20 7031 7000.