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On 10 June 2026, the Divisional Court (Males LJ and Morris J) dismissed Innsworth’s claim for judicial review of the CAT’s decision as to how a £200 million collective settlement sum should be distributed: [2026] EWHC 1393 (Admin).
By a settlement agreement dated 3 December 2024, Mastercard agreed to pay the class representative, Mr Merricks, £200 million to settle the collective proceedings commenced in September 2016 which alleged that 44 million people in the UK had paid higher retail prices because of inflated interchange fees. Accordingly, both parties made a joint application to the CAT for a Collective Settlement Approval Order (“CSAO”) pursuant to Rule 94 of the CAT Rules 2015.
On 23 January 2025, the CAT granted permission to Innsworth, the funder, to intervene in the CSAO Application, as the funder objected both to the amount of the settlement, and to the proposed method of distribution. By judgment dated 20 May 2025, the CAT approved the settlement as just and reasonable, this being the statutory test pursuant to section 49A(5) Competition Act 1998. The CAT rejected Innsworth’s claim for £179 million (89% of the settlement sum) and approved a payment to the funder of £68 million (34% of the settlement sum) which consisted of re-imbursement of the £45.5 million invested and a £22.5 million profit.
Innsworth objected to the payment to it of £22.5 million as net profit and by application dated 10 June 2025, claimed judicial review of the CAT’s judgment on distribution but not of the settlement sum.
The Divisional Court held that there was no material error in the CAT’s judgment that a 50% net profit on the funder’s investment of £45.5 million amounting to a total return of £68 million was fair and reasonable. This paves the way for class members to receive a payment of up to £70.
Mark Brealey KC acted for Mr Merricks in the collective settlement proceedings.
Click here for the full Divisional Court judgment.
The case has been covered in the press: Global Competition Review, The Law Society Gazette, the Global Legal Post, MLex, ICLG and Legal Futures.