Interchange Litigation: The State of Play in 2024

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Description

MDL 1720, the large case titled “In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation” has been active for nearly 20 years. Over that time, there have been various decisions, settlement figures, and lawsuits branching off of this case. Merchants in 2024 are certainly wondering where the case stands and what needs to be done to ensure they stay involved. Join this session for a full-scale update on the case, the next steps, and what an ending might look like.

Please note this webinar is for current MAG merchant members only.

Contributors

Beth Provenzano | Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Events, and Education - Merchant Advisory Group

Beth Provenzano is Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Events, and Education at the Merchant Advisory Group. In this role, Provenzano serves as the MAG’s spokesperson; directs communications strategy and outreach to the media; leads advocacy efforts with policymakers and regulators; and oversees conferences, events, and education.

Prior to joining the MAG, Provenzano was vice president of government relations and political affairs at the National Retail Federation, lobbying on financial services, technology, and intellectual property issues before Congress and the Administration, as well as directing advocacy and political engagement with Members of Congress and staff. Previously she served as deputy chief of staff for the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, handling a variety of duties including serving as spokeswoman for the office, preparing testimony, and organizing Senate leadership events. Provenzano spent a number of years on Capitol Hill, serving in the offices of former Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., and former Senator Bob Graham, D-Fla.

A graduate of George Washington University, Provenzano received an M.A. in political management. She graduated with honors from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism.
Alexandra Bernay | Counsel - Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Alexandra “Xan” S. Bernay is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s San Diego office, where she specializes in antitrust and unfair competition class action litigation. She has also worked on some of the Firm’s largest securities fraud class actions, including as a key team member in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. (S.D. Tex.), which recovered an unprecedented $7.2 billion for investors.
Xan currently serves as co-lead counsel in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litig., in which a settlement of $5.5 billion was approved in the Eastern District of New York and was upheld by the Second Circuit in 2023. This case was brought on behalf of millions of U.S. merchants against Visa and MasterCard and various card-issuing banks, challenging the way these companies set and collect tens of billions of dollars annually in merchant fees. The settlement is believed to be the largest antitrust class action settlement of all time.
Additionally, Xan is involved in In re Remicade Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Pa.) – a large case involving anticompetitive conduct in the biosimilars market, where the firm secured a $25 million recovery for end-payor plaintiffs. She is also part of the litigation team in In re Dealer Mgmt. Sys. Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Ill.), which involves anticompetitive conduct related to dealer management systems on behalf of auto dealerships across the country. She also works on a number of other cases, including an antitrust action against major airlines and a sprawling civil RICO case against Syndicates of Lloyd’s of London. She has tried to verdict two antitrust class actions, including a case against one of the world’s largest companies who was sued on behalf of consumers and a major bank involved in foreign exchange trading.
Xan speaks on a variety of issues on panels and legal education events related to litigation, including trends in antitrust law, issues affected women in the law, changes to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, settlements and other topics related to class action litigation. As part of her pro bono work with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers’ Program Xan has successfully worked on several trials on behalf of clients seeking guardianship.
Xan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Humboldt State University. She then graduated magna cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law, where she was a Comments Editor for the San Diego Law Review, and an Order of the Coif member.
Owen Glist | Partner - Constantine Cannon LLP

Owen Glist is outside counsel to MAG and is a partner in the New York office of Constantine Cannon, a law firm specializing in antitrust and payments litigation. For the past eleven years or so, he has spent most of his time working on the Interchange case, MDL 1720, where he has represented a group of more than 60 merchants and retail trade associations as plaintiffs.

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Description

Contributors

Beth Provenzano | Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Events, and Education - Merchant Advisory Group

Alexandra Bernay | Counsel - Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Owen Glist | Partner - Constantine Cannon LLP