A surprise court ruling has revived the possibility of a £14bn lawsuit against credit card firm Mastercard.
The Court of Appeal in London has ruled the Competition Appeal Tribunal must reconsider the class action against the firm which it threw out two years ago.
The claim alleges 46 million people paid higher prices in shops than they should have due to high card fees.
Mastercard said it continued to "disagree fundamentally with the basis of the claim".
"This decision is not a final ruling and the proposed claim is not approved to move forward; rather, the court has simply said a rehearing on certain issues should happen," it added.
The financial services firm said it was seeking permission to appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Class action
Former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks - who is behind the claim - is trying to bring the class action on behalf of all individuals over 16 who were resident in the UK for at least three months between 1992 and 2008 and who bought an item or service from a UK business which accepted Mastercard.
He alleges that fees which Mastercard charged businesses for accepting payments from consumers, known as interchange fees, led to UK consumers paying higher prices on purchases from businesses that accepted Mastercard.
If the £14bn was awarded and divided between the 46 million eligible people the payout would amount to £300 each.
'Very pleased'
Mr Merricks' original claim was thrown out by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) two years ago. But on Tuesday the Court of Appeal said the CAT had applied the wrong legal test in making its decision.
Mr Merricks' claim will now go back to the CAT, which will have to reconsider whether to allow it to proceed.
He said he was "very pleased" by the decision.
"It is nearly 12 years since Mastercard was clearly told that they had broken the law by imposing excessive card transaction charges, damaging consumers over a prolonged period.
"As a result we all had to pay higher prices in the shops than we should have done - while Mastercard have pocketed the profits.
Mr Merricks' solicitor Boris Bronfentrinker, from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, called the decision a "landmark day for all UK consumers that Mr Merricks seeks to represent".
The proposed claim follows the European Commission's 2007 decision that Mastercard's interchange fees were in breach of competition law.
UK universities are being accused of using "gagging orders" to stop bullying, discrimination and sexual misconduct allegations becoming public.
Dozens of academics have told BBC News they were "harassed" out of their jobs and made to sign non-disclosure agreements after making complaints.
Figures obtained by the BBC show UK universities spent about £87m on pay-offs with NDAs since 2017.
Universities UK says using NDAs to keep victims quiet should not be tolerated.
Non-disclosure agreements were designed to stop staff sharing trade secrets if they changed jobs, but now lawyers say they are being misused to protect serial perpetrators of misconduct, and ministers say they want to tighten the rules.
The music professor
Anahid Kassabian, a former music professor at the University of Liverpool, said she felt like she was treated as a "burden" and "bullied out" of her 10-year job after being diagnosed with cancer.
She has broken her NDA in the hope that others who have been "through the same horrors" will realise they are "not alone" and will feel empowered to speak out.
"We all think we're isolated and alone, sobbing over past wrongs, when in fact there are many, many of us, and if we could speak to each other it would feel very different," she said.
Ms Kassabian, 59, who also has multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia, believes her medical conditions had led to her ability to work being called into question, without the causes of the emotional stress she was under being adequately addressed.
But the BBC has seen documents that suggest the university felt it had done all it could to support Ms Kassabian, and it had a responsibility to support the teaching of students and work in the department as well as staff.
The University of Liverpool said: "We refute these allegations in the strongest possible terms. Ms Kassabian was not subject to discrimination or bullying and the university did not fail to make reasonable adjustments.
"Settlement agreements with a standard confidentiality clause are used for a range of cases including conduct, capability and redundancy. As we too are bound by confidentiality, we are unable to provide specifics in relation to her case."
'Followed to new job'
Another academic, Amy, not her real name, says bullying sparked her depression.
"It's crippling my career," she told the BBC.
Amy says she has been bullied for six years across two universities by the same man.
Her NDA, seen by the BBC, explicitly names the senior academic whom she calls a "serial bully".
It means she is legally required not to reveal details of the allegations or she risks being sued.
"He told me I'd never have a successful career," she said.
"He has done nothing but undermine my confidence; it's a complete abuse of power."
After she put in a complaint, Amy says she was advised to sign an NDA and leave.
"I ended up hundreds of miles away at a new university, only for him to follow me and continue his harassment. Because of the NDA I can't tell people what went on in the past. I can't tell them why he's doing this.
"Universities would rather pay off people to leave, than push out the person doing the bullying."
A source close to the settlement process, who has overseen a number of maternity and disability discrimination cases, said their university had a fund to get rid of staff with "significant health problems".
Claims of the misuse of NDAs by universities follow high-profile cases in the film and business worlds.
Emma Chapman, an award-winning astrophysicist, says she was sexually harassed by a man at University College London and received a £70,000 payout after a two-year legal challenge.
She refused to sign an NDA in favour of a confidentiality waiver, believed to be the first of its kind, allowing her to defend herself.
But Ms Chapman says the "trauma of the original incident is still there" with "nightmares of [her] house being set on fire".
Shortly after her tribunal, she received several untraceable voicemails of a person laughing down the phone in the middle of the night.
She reported it to the police, but there was no concrete evidence it was her harasser.
UCL says it no longer uses NDAs for cases of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, but acknowledges that "historically" it has "not always got the balance right".
"We hope this sends a clear message that these behaviours will not be tolerated," it said.
"#MeToo has made clear that all institutions can, and must do better, in preventing and addressing these behaviours. UCL is no exception."
A widespread problem?
The BBC sent Freedom of Information requests to 136 UK universities, asking how much they had paid in settlements that included "gagging clauses".
Analysis of figures from 96 universities responding in full, reveal about £87m spent on about 4,000 settlements in the past two years.
Many universities said they were unable to disclose why the agreements were signed, so it is unclear how many relate to allegations of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct.
Some universities attributed the bulk of their multi-million NDA spending to voluntary redundancy packages, but lawyers question whether, if such cases were truly voluntary, gagging clauses would be needed.
Georgina Calvert-Lee, a senior barrister at McAllister Olivarius, has told MPs that NDAs are "overused to promote systemic discrimination and harassment" at universities.
"The danger is that you may have one complaint put in, it's settled with an NDA, but then the university takes no action to prevent the misconduct happening again, and this exposes others to further misconduct by the same perpetrator," she said.
Ms Calvert-Lee said that universities have to provide independent legal advice to affected staff, but that this is usually only "enough time to talk through the agreement and not about the circumstances that have led to it".
Royal family correspondent(wp/reuters)::: In Ryan Hatrick’s London kitchen, Prince William and his wife Kate smile from lined up royal-themed mugs, a magnet of Queen Elizabeth sticks to the oven, and a tea towel marking Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle hangs nearby.
Books about the British royal family lie on the table around which the 41-year-old’s labrador, named Windsor, plays with his favourite toy - a squeaky crown.
Hatrick has long been a royal fan - he remembers his mother looking for somewhere to watch Prince Charles marry Diana Spencer while on holiday in a remote seaside cottage in 1981 and avidly read about Tudor monarchs as a teenager.
“I think in a day when we are just being inundated with depressing news...the royals have given us something to look forward to,” he said.
“Will and Kate’s wedding...the births of (their children) George, Charlotte, and Louis, the weddings of Harry and (his cousin Princess) Eugenie, as well as the Jubilee and the Queen’s 90th...always something to look forward to.”
Hatrick, who works in security, has hosted royal-themed parties: last May he decorated a pub with balloons and bunting and ordered a cake to celebrate Harry marrying American actress Meghan in a televised wedding watched by millions.
From Boston to Karachi, Britain’s royal family draws fans around the world, eagerly following special occasions, their outings, and in the cases of Kate and Meghan, their outfits.
They collect memorabilia, travel to see the royals in public or follow their news from afar. In an age of social media, new types of fans have created Facebook pages, Instagram accounts and broadcast podcasts to global audiences.
When Harry and Meghan, who are expecting their first child, launched their @sussexroyal Instagram handle on April 2, the account broke the record for the fastest time to get one million followers on the platform, hitting the number in five hours and 45 minutes, according to Guinness World Records.
“People are always interested in the news and the fact that Harry and Meghan are going to have a baby...will be of passing interest to most people,” royal commentator Claudia Joseph said.
“But of course there are royal watchers who are fascinated and other people who just shrug their shoulders in the pub.”
DIFFERENT TYPES OF FANS
William, Kate and their children, Harry and Meghan, have particularly generated social media buzz. Websites, blogs and Instagram accounts have sprouted in their honour.
“The reason behind posting is...I love her a lot,” said Karachi-based Mah Jabeen, 36, who set up a Meghan Markle Facebook fan page and YouTube channel about the now duchess.
“People love to read about her. Her biography, her life...her fashion style.”
In Amman, Ala Mashharawi, content and social media editor at news website Al Bawaba, follows Kate and Meghan news, but his @meghanmarkle_arabic Instagram account focuses on the latter.
“Any new person that enters the royal family will attract a lot of attention...But Meghan...already had three different things about her: she was older than Prince Harry, she is divorced and she was an actress,” the 28-year-old said.
“What inspired me was her style, I just wanted to keep a personal library of...everything that Meghan wore; then one thing lead to another, people started to like the page and following and asking for news.”
Other fans want to shine a light on royal work. Boston-based Denese Carpenter started the “My Duke and I” podcast with a friend to discuss Harry and Meghan’s work relating to the Commonwealth: he is Youth Ambassador while she patron of The Association of Commonwealth Universities.
“I think it’s important the focus stays on that and not on their personal lives,” she said.
British retiree Margaret Tyler has garnered her own press attention for her royal dedication. Her London home is filled with plates, cups, pictures, dolls and life-size cardboard cut-outs of the queen and other royals.
The 75-year-old has met the queen, her mother, Harry and Meghan among others: “I’m so excited about baby Sussex...I can’t wait.”
London was bracing for disruption by climate-change activists to underground train services on Wednesday after protesters blocked some of London’s most important junctions including Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.
The protests, led by British climate group Extinction Rebellion, brought parts of central London to a standstill on Tuesday.
Extinction Rebellion, which generated headlines with a semi-nude protest in parliament earlier this month, is demanding the government reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
“I am extremely concerned about the plans some protesters have to disrupt the London Underground,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan in a statement.
“It is absolutely crucial to get more people using public transport, as well as walking and cycling, if we are to tackle this climate emergency,” he said.
A total of 290 people were arrested on Monday and Tuesday, according to London’s Metropolitan police.
Police have said they expected the demonstrations to continue and had to strike the right balance between allowing the right to peaceful protest while ensuring disruption was kept at a minimum.
Business reporter(wp/reuters)::: Britain’s markets watchdog will review its rules as the country readies to leave the European Union, the source of its financial regulation for decades.
“Post-Brexit, we need to consider the future of regulation to ensure the regulatory landscape is fit for the challenge it faces,” the Financial Conduct Authority said in its new annual business plan published on Wednesday.
The watchdog’s chief executive, Andrew Bailey, said Brexit will be the most immediate challenge its faces.
“In order to ensure we are a regulator that continues to serve the public interest, we need to adapt to the ever-changing environment,” Bailey said.
The debate is likely to be heated.
Backers of Brexit say that leaving the EU gives Britain an opportunity to ease what they see as burdensome rules from the bloc, to maintain London as a competitive global financial centre.
Others, however, want Britain to stay aligned to the bloc, the biggest customer of Britain’s financial sector.
Britain’s finance ministry and parliament’s Treasury Select Committee (TSC) have already announced plans to review financial regulation.
The FCA said the review would look at issues such a as the cost of rules, and equivalence, the EU’s system of granting market access to non-EU financial firms.
Equivalence largely rests on staying aligned to the bloc’s rules, but the FCA and the Bank of England have warned against Britain becoming a “rule taker” or having to continually copy EU rules.
Britain has cut and pasted the EU’s equivalence regime into national law.
TSC Chair Nicky Morgan has said that the debate over the future of regulation could take decades to decide given deep philosophical divisions.
The FCA also said it will provide guidance to the finance ministry on extending the watchdog’s enforcement powers in the cryptocurrency sector, including its oversight of security tokens which resemble shares or debt, and utility tokens, which allow access to products or services without giving holders any rights.
Business reporter(wp/reuters)::: Committees that check if employees get a good deal from their work pension should also consider how retirement schemes examine the impact of climate change on investments, Britain’s markets watchdog proposed on Monday.
Firms that have workplace pension schemes already have to set up an independent governance committee, or IGC, to check that members are not being ripped off by unfair transaction costs.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing to widen this remit to include a duty to report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, consumer concerns, and how pension scheme providers select stocks and bonds to invest in, known as stewardship.
“We want to help make sure that these consumers do not lose money as a result of unsuitable investments, for example due to ESG risks including climate change,” the FCA said in its consultation paper.
“And we want these consumers to benefit from good stewardship of their investments, to create sustainable value as well as benefiting the economy and society.”
The proposals are part of the watchdog’s efforts to improve value for money in the investment sector by cracking down on unfair fees and charges.
Separate new rules has meant automatic enrolment of about 10 million employees into pension schemes.
But the FCA is worried that too many scheme members are not engaged enough in their pensions and it therefore want stronger IGCs to act on their behalf and improve competition among pension providers.
IGCs can raise any concern with the boards of insurers and other providers of pensions, and can escalate concerns to the FCA if it feels they have not been dealt with properly.
The FCA will publish final rule changes in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Thousands of environmental activists paralysed parts of central London on Monday by blocking Marble Arch, Oxford Circus and Waterloo Bridge in a bid to force the government to do more to tackle climate change.
Under sunny skies, activists sang songs or held signs that read “There is no Planet B” and “Extinction is forever” at some of the capital’s most iconic locations. Roadblocks will continue night and day at each site and the demonstrators say the protests could last at least a week.
The protests are being led by the British climate group Extinction Rebellion and will involve demonstrations in 33 countries around the world over the coming days.
“I realised that signing petitions and writing letters was not going to be enough. Real action is needed,” said Diana McCann, 66, a retired wine trader from south London, holding a banner in the middle of a traffic-free road. “It’s like a world war. We have to go on to a war footing.”
Extinction Rebellion, which generated headlines with a semi-nude protest in the House of Commons earlier this month, has warned its members that some of them could be arrested for taking part in non-violent civil disobedience.
The group is demanding the government declare a climate and ecological emergency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025 and create a citizen’s assembly of members of the public to lead on decisions to address climate change.
At the Shell building near the River Thames, two protesters scaled up scaffolding writing ‘Shell Knows!’ in red paint on the front of the building and three protesters glued their hands to the revolving doors at the entrance.
Activists said they smashed the glass of a revolving door and caused more than 6,000 pounds worth of damage. At least one person was arrested by police for criminal damage.
“EXTINCTION REBELLION”
At Oxford Circus, protesters unveiled a pink boat that says “TELL THE TRUTH” and on Waterloo Bridge demonstrators brought trees, hanging baskets and skate ramps.
The protest had a festive atmosphere, with many families in attendance, and a low police presence.
Extinction Rebellion wrote to Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday outlining their demands and asking for face-to-face talks, warning that they will escalate their disruptive actions over the coming weeks unless the government acts.
“Make no mistake, people are already dying,” the letter states. “In the majority world, indigenous communities are now on the brink of extinction. This crisis is only going to get worse … Prime minister, you cannot ignore this crisis any longer. We must act now.”
Organisers of the protests circulated legal advice to anyone planning to attend, requesting they refrain from using drugs and alcohol, and asking them to treat the public with respect.
London’s police have advised people travelling around London in the coming days to allow extra time for their journey in the event of road closures and general disruption.
The disruption follows similar action last November when thousands of protesters occupied five central London bridges. Police arrested 85 people that day.
Rowan McLaughlin, 47, a teacher, said this week’s protests were more important that the huge pro and anti-Brexit protests in London recently.
“In Europe, out of Europe, it makes no difference if we have no liveable habitat,” he said. “We’re just going to get bigger and more annoying until the government speaks to us.”
