Partner Lawrence Remmel Interviewed About DOJ Review of Banks Charging Debit Card Fees
Partner Lawrence Remmel, Chair of Pryor Cashman’s Banking and Finance Group, was interviewed by International Business Times for its article “DOJ Debit Card Fee Review Signals Warning for Banks.” The article discusses the U.S. Department of Justice’s review of statements and actions by big banks and their trade associations to determine if they violated antitrust laws through coordinated action to raise consumer debit card fees.
As a result of the Federal Reserve's cuts on fees banks could collect from retailers for processing purchases made with debit cards, Remmel, who specializes in corporate and banking financing, told the publication it's a logical thing for banks to pose debit card fees to recoup some of that loss. As for the review, “I don't think they are going to find anything," he says. "If this is an antitrust violation, then you are really telling the banks that they'll get burned whichever way they turn. If they are not transparent, they are going to get criticized for that; if they are transparent and signal the market what they are doing, they then open themselves to antitrust investigations."
To read the entire article, please visit: International Business Times.
