US V. Visa USA Inc., Visa International Corp., and Mastercard International
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : : Plaintiff,: : 98 Civ. 7076 (BSJ) : v. : Decision : VISA U.S.A. INC., : VISA INTERNATIONAL CORP., and : MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL : U.S. District Court INCORPORATED, : Filed 10-9-2001 : S.D.of N.Y. Defendants. : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x BARBARA S. JONES, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE INTRODUCTION This civil action was brought by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., against the defendants, VISA U.S.A. INC., (“Visa U.S.A.”), VISA INTERNATIONAL CORP., (“Visa International”) (collectively “Visa”) and MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, (“MasterCard”). It involves the U.S. credit and charge card industry, which has only four significant network services competitors: American Express, a publicly owned corporation; Discover, a corporation owned by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter; and the defendants Visa and MasterCard, which are joint ventures, each owned by associations of thousands of banks. The Government claims, in two counts, that each of the defendants is in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which provides that “every contract, combination in the 1 form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States ... is declared to be illegal.” 15 U.S.C. § 1. Count One centers around the governance rules of Visa and MasterCard, which permit members of each association to sit on the Board of Directors of either Visa or MasterCard, although they may not sit on both. Count Two targets the associations’ exclusionary rules, under which members of each association are able to issue credit or charge cards of the other association, but may not offer American Express or Discover cards.
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