§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Office of Fair Trading has taken three years to start investigating interchange fees on credit cards after concerns were first raised. [HL5407]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The Office of Fair Trading has been investigating MasterCard Interchange fees since March 2000. There is no standard length of investigation. The length of each investigation is determined by the complexity of the issues including questions of law and economics and must also take account of the parties right of defence under the Competition Act 1998.
It is a matter for the Office of Fair Trading, as the UK's independent competition regulator, to conduct an investigation where they feel that an agreement infringes the Competition Act 1998. There is no locus for Ministerial intervention into such investigations.