The Austrian Supreme Court confirms upon appeal the Cartel Court’s findings regarding concerted and abusive practices in the debit card and payment system sector and raises the fine imposed (Europay Austria / Bankomat-Vertag)

1. Introduction By its judgment of 12 September 2007 in Case 16 Ok 4/07 (“Europay Austria”), the Austrian Supreme Court (acting as the highest appellate court in competition matters ; Oberster Gerichtshof als Rekursgericht in Kartellrechtssachen) essentially confirmed the first instance judgment of the Vienna Cartel Court (Oberlandesgericht Wien als Kartellgericht) of 22 December 2006 in Case 27 Kt 20, 24, 27/06, by which the latter had imposed a fine of EUR 5 million on Europay Austria Zahlungsverkehrssysteme GmbH (“Europay Austria”) for infringement of national competition rules equivalent to Art 81 and Art 82 because of its participation in the so-called “Bankomatvertrag”, an agreement which it had concluded in 1998 with a great number of Austrian banks. 2. Background Europay