The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

U.S. Supreme Court Allows ATM Fees Lawsuits to Proceed.  The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave the green light to class action lawsuits by consumers accusing Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc. and several U.S. banks of conspiring to inflate the prices of ATM access fees in violation of antitrust law.  The justices dismissed two related cases they earlier had agreed to hear in which the companies had sought to overturn an August 2015 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that had revived the three lawsuits.  In the order, the court said the cases were dismissed because the companies had changed their legal arguments after the justices agreed to hear the dispute.

Microsoft Offers EU Concessions Over Its $26 Billion LinkedIn Bid.  Microsoft has offered concessions to EU antitrust regulators over its $26 billion bid for social network LinkedIn, the European Commission said on Wednesday, as the U.S. software company seeks to allay concerns over its largest ever deal.  The move came after the EU competition enforcer expressed concerns about the deal at a meeting with Microsoft executives last week.  The Commission is expected to seek feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept the concessions, demand more or open a full investigation.

U.S. Tentatively Blocks American Airlines-Qantas Expansion.  Plans by American Airlines and Qantas Airways to expand their alliance for flights between the United States and Australasia were tentatively denied by the U.S. Transportation Department on Friday, the agency said, citing competition concerns.  The carriers submitted their application in June 2015, several months before American started flights between the United States and Australia.  The partners had been marketing flights on routes that the other did not offer, and requested immunity from U.S. antitrust law in order to coordinate prices and schedules.

EU Regulators Readying Fines for HSBC, JPMorgan, Credit Agricole – Sources.  EU antitrust regulators are set to fine Europe’s biggest bank HSBC, JPMorgan and Credit Agricole by the end of the year for rigging financial benchmarks linked to the euro, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.  Charges were levied in May 2014 against the three banks, which denied wrongdoing.  The European Commission could penalize HSBC, JPMorgan and Credit Agricole next month, the sources said.