mastercard incorporated notes to consolidated financial statements 2014 ( continued ) ( in thousands , except percent and per share data ) on june 24 , 2008 , mastercard entered into a settlement agreement ( the 201camerican express settlement 201d ) with american express company ( 201camerican express 201d ) relating to the u.s . federal antitrust litigation between mastercard and american express . the american express settlement ended all existing litigation between mastercard and american express . under the terms of the american express settlement , mastercard is obligated to make 12 quarterly payments of up to $ 150000 per quarter beginning in the third quarter of 2008 . mastercard 2019s maximum nominal payments will total $ 1800000 . the amount of each quarterly payment is contingent on the performance of american express 2019s u.s . global network services business . the quarterly payments will be in an amount equal to 15% ( 15 % ) of american express 2019s u.s . global network services billings during the quarter , up to a maximum of $ 150000 per quarter . if , however , the payment for any quarter is less than $ 150000 , the maximum payment for subsequent quarters will be increased by the difference between $ 150000 and the lesser amount that was paid in any quarter in which there was a shortfall . mastercard assumes american express will achieve these financial hurdles . mastercard recorded the present value of $ 1800000 , at a 5.75% ( 5.75 % ) discount rate , or $ 1649345 for the year ended december 31 , 2008 . in 2003 , mastercard entered into a settlement agreement ( the 201cu.s . merchant lawsuit settlement 201d ) related to the u.s . merchant lawsuit described under the caption 201cu.s . merchant and consumer litigations 201d in note 20 ( legal and regulatory proceedings ) and contract disputes with certain customers . under the terms of the u.s . merchant lawsuit settlement , the company was required to pay $ 125000 in 2003 and $ 100000 annually each december from 2004 through 2012 . in addition , in 2003 , several other lawsuits were initiated by merchants who opted not to participate in the plaintiff class in the u.s . merchant lawsuit . the 201copt-out 201d merchant lawsuits were not covered by the terms of the u.s . merchant lawsuit settlement and all have been individually settled . we recorded liabilities for certain litigation settlements in prior periods . total liabilities for litigation settlements changed from december 31 , 2006 , as follows: .

$ 476915: provision for litigation settlements ( note 20 ): 3400
interest accretion on u.s . merchant lawsuit: 38046
payments: -113925
balance as of december 31 2007: 404436
provision for discover settlement: 862500
provision for american express settlement: 1649345
provision for other litigation settlements: 6000
interest accretion on u.s . merchant lawsuit settlement: 32879
interest accretion on american express settlement: 44300
payments on american express settlement: -300000
payments on discover settlement: -862500
payment on u.s . merchant lawsuit settlement: -100000
other payments and accretion: -662
balance as of december 31 2008: 1736298

see note 20 ( legal and regulatory proceedings ) for additional discussion regarding the company 2019s legal proceedings. .

Questions:
what was the change in total liabilities for litigation settlements from 2006 to 2007?
and how much does this change represent in relation to those liabilities in 2006, in percentage?

Answers:
-72479
-15.2%