On June 25, 2018, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that credit-card company American Express did not violate federal antitrust law by requiring merchants to contractually agree to “antisteering provisions.” These antisteering provisions prohibit merchants from “steering” cardholders at the point of purchase away from using their American Express card in favor of other credit cards to avoid having to pay American Express’s higher merchant fees.

Norton Rose Fulbright has prepared an analysis of the Court’s decision, discussing its significance because of how the Court defined the relevant product market in determining that the provisions had no substantial anticompetitive effect that harms consumers.

The Legal Update was written by:

Darryl Wade Anderson, partner in the Norton Rose Fulbright office in Houston, Texas

Michael A. Swartzendruber, partner and Head of Dispute Resolution and Litigation in the Norton Rose Fulbright office in Dallas, Texas

Gerald A. Stein, senior counsel in the Norton Rose Fulbright office in New York, New York

Geraldine W. Young, senior associate in the Norton Rose Fulbright office in Houston, Texas

Abraham Chang, associate in the Norton Rose Fulbright office in Houston, Texas