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Appeals judges unsympathetic to retailers' fee cap, routing complaints

January 18, 2014

Federal appeals court judges heard oral arguments last week in the ongoing litigation in retailers' antitrust suit against Visa and MasterCard. On July 31, 2013, Judge Richard Leon tossed out Federal Reserve rules for debit routing and exchange fees, a decision that the Fed is now appealing.

According to a report by CU Times, a panel that included judges David Tatel, Harry Edwards and Stephen Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from attorneys representing the Federal Reserve Board, retailers and FIs.

The panel of judges was impatient with merchants' claims that the Fed had ignored legislators' intent when interpreting Durbin Amendment requirements regarding debit transactions.

The Leon ruling excoriated the Fed on this point, but appeals judges appeared to see otherwise. The CU Times report quoted Judge Edwards' remark to the lead attorney for retailers: "I can tell you, none of us is buying that."

CUNA and NAFCU attorneys who attended the hearing declined to forecast the outcome of the appeal but said they thought it would be resolved by August.

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