This is an afternoon webinar on the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s landmark judgment on pass-on in the Interchange Umbrella Proceedings.
Following Trial 2 (November 2024 – April 2025), the Tribunal has clarified the legal principles governing pass-on both as a mitigation defence in direct claims and as an element of an indirect claim, and the approach required to assess pass-on on the evidence.
In the context of proceedings concerning multilateral interchange fees set by Visa and Mastercard brought both by retailers and consumers, the Tribunal addressed pass-on at two levels of the supply chain:
- From acquiring banks to merchants (holding that blended MIFs were passed on at 85%); and
- From merchants to consumers (holding that defendants must prove a “direct causative link” between the overcharge and downstream prices, which was largely not established).
This session will examine the Tribunal’s reasoning and the implications for competition damages claims and collective proceedings.
Speakers include: Philip Woolfe KC, Jack Williams and Dr Avantika Chowdury (Oxera).