The Austrian Supreme Court increases one of the fines imposed to banks by the Competition Authority in the ATM agreement case from €5 to 7 million (Europay Austria / Bankomat-Vertrag)

On 12 September 2007, the Austrian Supreme Cartel Court decided on the appeals lodged against the Cartel Court's decision imposing a fine of EUR 5 million on Europay Austria. We reported on the Cartel Court's decision in e-Competitions. By way of summary, Europay Austria was fined for violations of the Austrian law equivalents of Art 81 and Art 82 because of its participation in the so-called “Bankomat-Vertrag“(ATM agreement), which it had concluded with a number of Austrian banks which at the same time were its shareholders. In its decision of 1 December 2006, the Cartel Court identified a number of infringements, among them in particular: In the ATM agreement, Europay and the banks had agreed on the interchange fees to be paid by Europay (as an acquirer) to the banks (issuers). The