Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP will next week represent more than 1,900 companies in a pivotal 'limitation issue' case at the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal.

The team of Stephenson Harwood litigators and their counsel will argue that losses incurred by the Merchant Interchange Umbrella group claimants should extend back far beyond the typical six-year limitation period. The three-day hearing, which commences on Monday, will determine whether Visa and Mastercard could be facing claims which extend as far back as 1992.

"This is a landmark hearing, which will attract attention far beyond just those involved," said Genevieve Quierin, commercial disputes partner at Stephenson Harwood. "It will determine how accrued EU rights are to be treated post-Brexit, including the extent to which an English tribunal is required to follow a recent EU precedent. And the stakes are high; this decision could potentially be worth billions to the parties."

The Umbrella Interchange claimants include a wide range of online and high street retailers, hotel operators, telecoms, ticketing, betting, gaming and financial services companies, universities, and charities. The claims relate to card transaction fees which were found to infringe competition law by the European Commission in 2007, and subsequently by the UK's Supreme Court in 2020.

Representing more than 1,900 UK and EU corporates with a combined claim value in excess of £1 billion, Stephenson Harwood will argue that the CAT should follow the recent CJEU judgment in Volvo Case C-267/20 Volvo AB and DAF Trucks NV v RM and find that the clock for limitation does not start to run until the infringement has ceased. As interchange fees are still charged on all Visa and Mastercard transactions, Stephenson Harwood will claim that the claimants’ claims extend all the way back to the time the infringement started.

The case is relevant to all companies bringing competition claims and defending them.

Merricks, the first collective proceedings to be certified by the Competition Appeal Tribunal on an opt-out basis, is also involved in the suit. The Merricks action is brought on behalf of 46 million adults in the UK against Mastercard over interchange fees. It has a claim value of up to £19 billion.

Donna Newman, who jointly leads the Merchant Umbrella Interchange Proceedings with Genevieve at Stephenson Harwood, said: "Our claim relies on an EU judgment, colloquially known as the 'Volvo decision', which says that under the relevant EU law, the clock doesn't start for limitation purposes until the infringement has ceased. As interchange fees are still charged on all Visa and Mastercard transactions, we are claiming that our claimants' claims should extend back to the time the infringement started. The case addresses the question of whether these accrued EU rights are protected post-Brexit."

The Stephenson Harwood team is led by commercial dispute partners Genevieve Quierin and Donna Newman. They are supported by associates Chris Pettett, Adam Polonsky, Nadine Tollefsen, Maria Harris, Lucy Walsh and Marcus Watkinson.