Antitrust Group Archives - Page 144 of 162

Italy Slaps MasterCard, Banks With Hefty Fines

Posted 11/15/10

Last week, Italy’s competition enforcement agency, the Antitrust Authority, levied penalties against MasterCard and several Italian banks totaling more than $8.4 million for artificially raising interchange fees and passing those increases onto merchants and customers. Interchange fees are fees paid by merchants to the banks that issue the debit or credit card to their customers (the “issuing” banks). After...

Tagged in: International Competition Issues,

Canada To Real Estate Brokers: Competition, Competition And Competition Are Also Important

Posted 11/8/10

While the three most important things about real estate may be location, location and location, Canadian antitrust enforcers are telling real estate brokers that competition is also important. The Competition Bureau of Canada has entered into a consent agreement with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) settling the Bureau's claims that the rules imposed by the CREA limited consumer choice and prevented...

Tagged in: International Competition Issues,

DOJ Sings The Blues Over Michigan Healthcare Prices

Posted 11/5/10

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Michigan Attorney General have filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the Eastern District of Michigan against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Michigan’s largest health insurance provider, alleging its agreements with hospitals cause Michigan consumers to pay higher prices for their healthcare and insurance. In United States v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the DOJ and...

Tagged in: Antitrust Litigation,

Agnew Attacks NCAA As Conspiring Cabal of Colleges

Posted 11/4/10

While Joseph Agnew’s complaint against the National Collegiate Athletic Association may not call the NCAA’s institutions “nattering nabobs of negativism,” Agnew in effect alleges that the association is a conspiring cabal of colleges. Agnew, a former Rice University football player, has commenced an antitrust class action against the NCAA. The complaint filed in Agnew v. NCAA, in the U.S. District Court...

Tagged in: Antitrust Litigation,

Low Cost Law School Alleges Scheme To Kill Off Competition For Law Students In Southern California

Posted 11/2/10

A Southern California law school is alleging that its low-cost formula for evening law school students is being jeopardized by the anticompetitive acts of its main competitor. The Southern California Institute of Law (“SCIL”) has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against TCS Education System, David Figuli, and Global Equities, LTD, alleging that the...

Tagged in: Antitrust Litigation,

Landmark Antitrust Arbitration Case Gives Up The Ghost

Posted 11/1/10

The landmark United States Supreme Court decision that is expected to be a death blow for class action arbitrations has apparently claimed its first victim, the case itself. Following its loss in the Supreme Court, AnimalFeeds International has voluntarily dismissed its antitrust action – Stolt-Nielsen S.A. et al. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp. – settling its claims of price fixing for the shipment of...

Tagged in: Antitrust Litigation,

Europeans Block Iron Giants’ Second Attempt To Combine

Posted 10/28/10

For the second time in as many years, antitrust enforcers have blocked a proposed deal between mining companies BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Ltd. to create the world’s largest iron-ore exporter. The companies have announced that they will not proceed with a $10 billion joint venture of their ire ore operations in western Australia, due to objections from antitrust agencies in Australia, Germany, Japan, and...

Tagged in: Antitrust Enforcement, International Competition Issues,

Apple And AT&T Lose Bid To Dismiss Class In Ninth Circuit

Posted 10/26/10

The Ninth Circuit has affirmed class certification for an antitrust action against Apple, involving the length of time that iPhone users must use AT&T’s voice and data services. Judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain and William Fletcher have issued a one-page summary affirmance of the certification, which Judge James Ware of the Northern District of California granted on July 8, 2010. The Ninth Circuit case is Holman v....

Tagged in: Antitrust Litigation,

Scrap Metal Cartels Facing Global Scrutiny

Posted 10/25/10

A worldwide antitrust crackdown on scrap metal cartels has landed in Korea with the Korean Fair Trade Commission’s recent imposition of a $1.45 million fine against 25 scrap metal processors for price fixing. Scrap metal processors purchase the scraps that are produced by the steel production process. The processors in turn sort and clean the scrap metal and sell the final product to end users, frequently other...

Tagged in: Antitrust Enforcement, Antitrust Litigation, International Competition Issues, Price Fixing,

Eleventh Circuit Reverses Itself To Give Eleventh Hour Reprieve To Class Action Plaintiffs With Small Individual Damages

Posted 10/22/10

Class action plaintiffs are breathing a little easier with last week’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reverse its July decision that would have been the death knell for many class actions. But the court still ruled against the individual plaintiff in the case before it. In July, an Eleventh Circuit panel issued a surprising decision holding that CAFA – the Class Action...

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Antitrust Group

Italy Slaps MasterCard, Banks With Hefty Fines

Canada To Real Estate Brokers: Competition, Competition And Competition Are Also Important

DOJ Sings The Blues Over Michigan Healthcare Prices

Agnew Attacks NCAA As Conspiring Cabal of Colleges

Low Cost Law School Alleges Scheme To Kill Off Competition For Law Students In Southern California

Landmark Antitrust Arbitration Case Gives Up The Ghost

Europeans Block Iron Giants’ Second Attempt To Combine

Apple And AT&T Lose Bid To Dismiss Class In Ninth Circuit

Scrap Metal Cartels Facing Global Scrutiny

Eleventh Circuit Reverses Itself To Give Eleventh Hour Reprieve To Class Action Plaintiffs With Small Individual Damages

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