这一消息公布后，Visa股价在盘后交易中下跌近2%。今年迄今，该公司的累计涨幅达到11.50%。1. According to reports, the US Department of Justice is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against payment giant Visa; 2. It is expected that federal prosecutors will file the lawsuit as early as this Tuesday (September 24), accusing the payment company of engaging in anti-competitive behavior; 3. The US Department of Justice's antitrust division began investigating Visa in 2021, at which time Visa stated that it believed its debit card business complied with applicable laws.
Financial Association News September 24th (Editor Zhou Ziyi) According to reports, the US Department of Justice is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against payment giant Visa, accusing the company of engaging in anti-competitive behavior.
According to an informed source, federal prosecutors will file the lawsuit as early as this Tuesday (September 24). Previously, the US Department of Justice had conducted a years-long review of Visa's business practices.
After this news was announced, Visa's stock price fell nearly 2% in after-hours trading. Year-to-date, the company has seen a cumulative increase of 11.50%.
Visa disclosed in a regulatory filing in 2021 that the US Department of Justice's antitrust division had requested information regarding potential violations of antitrust laws, with a focus on Visa's debit card business in the United States, as well as competition in other networks and payment methods. At that time, Visa's response was that its "debit operations in the United States comply with applicable laws".
Last year, the US Department of Justice's antitrust division again requested information from Visa regarding its debit card business in the US and its competition with other payment networks.
Similarly, antitrust agencies also reviewed Visa's competitor Mastercard. Mastercard reached an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission last year to settle allegations that the company forced users to make payments directly through its payment network.
Earlier this year, Visa also reached a settlement agreement with Mastercard for about $30 billion, to restrict the charges to merchants for credit and debit cards. Some of the saved fees may be passed on to consumers through lower prices, merchants say this could save them $30 billion over 5 years. However, the agreement was later rejected by a federal judge.
Currently, the radical anti-monopoly officials in the US Biden administration are taking tougher anti-monopoly policies towards large enterprises, trying to correct the lenient enforcement situation over the past decades.
Under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice has been investigating some major cases, trying to restrain powerful corporations, including large technology companies, such as the heated standoff with Google over the monopoly case in the digital advertising field.