Final report of the Hearing Officer in case COMP/29.373 — Visa International/Multilateral Interchange FEE (pursuant to Article 15 of Commission Decision 2001/462/EC, ECSC of 23 May 2001 on the terms of reference of Hearing Officers in certain competition proceedings (OJ L 162, 19.6.2001, p. 21)) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2002-06-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: audit, competition law, electronic money, financial institution, financial transaction, international organisation

22.11.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 286/9

Final report of the Hearing Officer in case COMP/29.373 — Visa International/Multilateral
Interchange FEE

(pursuant to Article 15 of Commission Decision 2001/462/EC, ECSC of 23 May 2001 on the terms
of reference of Hearing Officers in certain competition proceedings (OJ L 162, 19.6.2001, p. 21))

(2002/C 286/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

describing the proposed scheme, as modified,
Commission's provisional
position and inviting interested parties to comment.

indicating the
intention to adopt a favourable

Following extensions

On 7 September 2001, the Commission sent a letter pursuant
to Article 6 of Comission Regulation (EC) No 2842/98,
rejecting on a preliminary basis the complaint brought by
Eurocommerce.
limit
granted by the Hearing Officer, Eurocommerce replied to this
letter on 29 October 2001, having been granted access to
certain additional documentation in order
to respond. A
request
an oral hearing was not granted but on
5 December 2001 Eurocommerce had a meeting with DG
Competition, in the presence of the Hearing Officer in order
to present its views orally.

to the

time

for

Following observations made by Eurocommerce in its reply
to the notice
and comments received from third parties
published in the Official
Journal, the Commission reopened
discussions with Visa on certain aspects of the proposed MIF
scheme, as a result of which, on 5 February 2002, Visa
submitted certain additional modifications and clarifications
to the proposed scheme. Eurocommerce was given a further
opportunity to comment.

In the light of the above, I conclude that Visa's rights to be
heard, as addressee of the present decision, those of Euro-
commerce and other interested third parties have been fully
respected.

Done at Brussels on 25 June 2002.

Karen WILLIAMS

The draft decision gives rise to the following observations.

This case can be traced back originally to 31 January 1977
when Ibanco Ltd, subsequently renamed Visa International
Service Association (Visa), notified various rules and regulations
governing the Visa association and its members
to the
Commission, seeking negative clearance under Article 81(1)
or, alternatively an exemption under Article 81(3). A comfort
letter was sent in April 1985 and the case was closed.

interchange

The investigation was reopened in 1992 following a complaint.
The comfort letter was withdrawn. A complaint was registered
by Eurocommerce on 23 May 1997 against various aspects of
in
inter alia the Visa International payment card scheme,
particular
the
Commission adopted a decision clearing certain provisions of
the various Visa rules under Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty and
Article 53(1) of the EEA Agreement (1). That decision did not
deal with the interchange fee issue. This issue, known as the
multilateral interchange fee (MIF) is the subject of the present
decision.

fees. On 9 August 2001,

Visa received a statement of objections concerning its intra-
regional MIFs scheme on 11 October 2000. Visa replied on
11 December 2000. An oral hearing took place on 6 February
2001. Eurocommerce participated in this hearing, as did other
interested third parties. In March 2001, Visa, Eurocommerce
and other interested third parties presented supplementary
observations to the Commission.

In June 2001, Visa adopted a proposal to modify its MIF
scheme. This was to the Commission. On 11 August 2001,
Journal
the Commission published a notice in the Official

(1) OJ L 293, 10.11.2001, p. 24.