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1. 美国昆鹰律师事务所代表英国消费者向万事达提起英国有史以来最大的一起诉讼，金额高达190亿英镑。
Quinn acts on biggest UK lawsuit ever as MasterCard hit by £19bn claim
在允许美国式集团诉讼的英国新法律实施后，万事达成为首个被提起该类诉讼的大公司。美国昆鹰律师事务所代表英国借记卡和信用卡用户，针对万事达的"非法"收费提起了高达190亿英镑的诉讼。
（图片来源：www.bloomberg.com）
美国昆鹰律师事务所（Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan，其实大家都叫它昆毅，不过它自家网站叫昆鹰），是全球最大的商事诉讼律师事务所之一，据官网介绍，"是一家拥有超过700位律师、拥有19家全球办公室的商业诉讼律师事务所，全部专业致力于商事诉讼与仲裁"，"超过2504起诉讼及仲裁案件"，"为原告当事人赢得超过500亿美元的赔偿金"，"胜诉率高达88%"，"在全球十个国家设有19家办公室"。
昆鹰称万事达向英国零售商收取限制竞争下的不当费用，而这些费用又通过高价转嫁到消费者，预估索赔金额约为190亿英镑（即便按现在的英镑汇率也大约1600亿人民币）。如果最终索赔成功，每个英国消费者将有资格获得数百英镑的赔偿，除非他们明确选择退出该诉讼。
2014年，位于卢森堡的欧洲法院判决万事达滥用其在刷卡费市场支配地位，违反了竞争法，那一长达十年之久的法律诉讼以万事达败诉告终。由于欧洲委员会已经认定万事达的收费是违法的，因此后续的索赔诉讼中，只需要证明由于万事达限制竞争行为导致消费者所遭受的损害即可。不过小编在想，在英国法院起诉，还是得趁着正式脱欧之前搞定为妙。
该案件是英国法律历史上诉讼金额最大的一次，也是最新的《2015年消费者权利法案》实施以来首批根据该法案提起的诉讼之一。此前英国只能提起"选择进入"的集体诉讼，因此消费者对大公司提起诉讼非常困难。而英国《2015年消费者权利法案》中规定了两种集体诉讼，选择进入集体诉讼（Opt-in collective proceedings）和选择退出集体诉讼（Opt-out collective proceedings），这是英国首次出现"选择退出"这样的规则，其效果相当于《美国联邦民事诉讼规则》第23条规定的集团诉讼（class action）。美国的集团诉讼经过几十年的发展，已经形成了包括消费者权益、证券、反垄断、环境、大规模侵权和民权等各大种类的集团诉讼，联邦层面有《1995年私人证券诉讼改革法案》（主要针对证券集团诉讼）和《2005年集团诉讼公平法案》（主要针对联邦和州的集团诉讼管辖权）等专门规定，各州也有自己的集团诉讼规则，但与《美国联邦民事诉讼规则》第23条大体一致。
万事达遭受此类诉讼已经不是第一次了，Legalnews在7月4日就刚报道Visa和万事达在美国的刷卡费反垄断集团诉讼中，提出的57亿美元和解方案都被法官给否了，认为部分诉讼集团的利益受到了损害，看来还要进一步割肉。感兴趣的小伙伴可以回看。
既然万事达在美国和欧洲遭遇到这类诉讼，而且原告胜诉或高额和解的可能性极大，那么中国的小伙伴们呢？我们日常生活中刷万事达和Visa的也不少了，我们能不能也在中国针对万事达和Visa搞个百亿以上规模的诉讼呢？小编在想，障碍其实不仅在天朝《民事诉讼法》的共同诉讼和集团诉讼有着本质的差别，而且还有一个现实的阻力，小伙伴们能想到吗？没错，就是法官可能投鼠忌器：
MasterCard has become the first big victim of new UK laws allowing US-style class actions, with litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan bringing a ?19bn claim against the financial services giant on behalf of British debit and credit card users hit with 'illegal' charges.
The claim, the biggest in UK legal history, will be one of the first to be filed under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which allows 'opt-out' claims to be brought for the first time in the UK. It was previously hard to bring consumer claims against corporates in the UK as each individual would have had to 'opt-in' to the claim.
Quinn Emanuel has estimated damage to UK consumers of ?19bn over anticompetitive fees MasterCard charged British retailers to process card payments, which it alleges were passed onto customers through higher prices. If the claim is successful, every single UK consumer stands to be eligible for hundreds of pounds in compensation, unless they explicitly opt-out of the lawsuit.
MasterCard lost a decade-long legal battle over interchange card fees in 2014 when Europe's top court, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, ruled the company had breached competition rules by abusing its dominant market position with the charges. Because MasterCard's fees have already been found to be illegal by the European Commission, this follow-on claim needs to only prove the damage consumers suffered as a result of MasterCard's anticompetitive behaviour. (Legal Business)
2. Visa和万事达的57亿美元反垄断集团和解遭到否决。
Visa, MasterCard $5.7B Antitrust Class Deal Nixed
Visa和万事达与商家之间的刷卡费反垄断争议案件旷日持久，而眼看快要达成的和解方案却被法官否决，这对Visa和万事达是一大打击。根据该和解方案，Visa和万事达将向那些在2004年至2012年期间接受支付卡的商家支付最高总额达到72.5亿美元（后来有商家退出，现在约在57亿）的补偿；而那些2012年以后接受支付卡的商家则只能获得禁令救济。美国联邦第二巡回上诉法院认为，禁令对这些商家来说没有太大价值，而且针对Visa和万事达的禁令只持续有效到2021年，而商家则被要求永久放弃针对Visa和万事达的诉讼。Dennis Jacobs法官认为，那些只获得禁令救济的集团成员并没有得到充分代表，使得该和解"不合理且不充分"。Pierre N. Leval法官也给出了同意意见，强调了该和解更深层次的问题，即原告中的一个集团接受被告主要赔偿，作为回报去强迫原告中的另一个集团放弃诉求。
Visa and MasterCard suffered a blow in a long-running antitrust dispute with merchants over swipe fees, as the Second Circuit rejected a $5.7 billion class settlement.
The deal would have provided up to $7.25 billion for merchants who accepted payment cards from 2004 to 2012.
But merchants who accepted them from 2012 on would have gained only injunctive relief.
And that injunctive relief, the appeals court said here, had little real value as it would have allowed merchants to impose surcharges that are prohibited under many state laws.
Also, while the injunction would have remained in effect until 2021, those merchants would have waived their right to pursue related claims against the card issuers forever.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Dennis Jacobs, found that the members of the injunction-only class were inadequately represented, making the settlement "unreasonable and inadequate."
Judge Pierre N. Leval wrote a separate concurrence to stress a deeper problem with the settlement-that one class of plaintiffs accepted substantial payments from the defendants in return for compelling plaintiffs in another class to give up their claims. (Bloomberg)
3. 百事可乐饮料致癌物质诉讼案和解获得暂时准许。
Pepsi Settlement Over Alleged Carcinogen in Drinks Gets Nod
因被指控软饮中的疑似致癌化合物超标，百事可乐卷入一起和解集团诉讼。Mary Hall等称百事可乐未能提醒消费者在特定软饮中含有高度的4-甲基咪唑，而4-甲基咪唑是在生产焦糖色素过程中产生的一种疑似致癌化学物质。集团和解要求百事可乐将软饮中该疑似致癌物质的水平保持在加州限定标准以下，并已获得暂时准许。审理该案的美国加州北部地区联邦地区法院的爱德华o陈法官也确认了和解集团，并为该和解设定了8月25日的最终庭审。相比此前百事可乐和加州环境卫生中心达成的和解，该协议扩大了时间和地域范围。陈法官1953出生于加州奥克兰，2011年被奥巴马任命为加州北部地区联邦地区法院法官，曾被Above the law评为美国2010年以来任职的地区法官中最具影响力法官第四名、"你最想做其书记员的七名明日之星法官"之一，审理的案件还包括Uber司机集团诉讼案等。
A class settlement calling for PepsiCo to keep the level of an alleged cancer-causing compound in soft drinks below California's Proposition 65 threshold got a tentative nod.
Judge Edward M. Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California also certified a settlement class and set an Aug. 25 final hearing for the deal. The agreement expands on a settlement Pepsi previously reached with California's Center for Environmental Health.
Mary Hall and others alleged PepsiCo, Inc. failed to warn consumers that certain soft drinks contained elevated levels of 4-Methylimidazole (4-MeI), a chemical generated during the manufacture of caramel color. (Bloomberg)
4. 德国反垄断机构对汽车制造商、汽车零部件供应商的办公室进行搜查，以调查操纵钢铁价格的垄断行为。
German Watchdog Searches Offices of Car Makers, Auto Suppliers in Steel Price-Fixing Probe
共有六家公司受到调查，包括汽车制造商戴姆勒、宝马、大众和零部件供应商罗伯特·博世和采埃孚等。在此之前，大众已经深陷排放门丑闻。看来大企业合规不好做，指不定哪天就来个黎明突袭（Dawn Raid）。
Germany's antitrust watchdog launched a steel price-fixing investigation into six companies, including car makers Daimler AG, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG and suppliers Robert Bosch GmbH and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
The watchdog suspects Germany's leading car makers and two of the world's biggest car-parts suppliers agreed on prices they would pay for steel products used in cars. The probe comes on the heels of Volkswagen's emissions-cheating scandal, and questions about possible manipulation of diesel-engine emissions by other auto makers. (WSJ)
5. 特斯拉自动驾驶交通死亡事故引发人们对自动驾驶汽车监管的担忧。
Tesla crash raises concerns about autonomous vehicle regulation
5月份，一辆特斯拉汽车公司S型电动汽车在自动驾驶模式下发生致命交通事故，特斯拉6月30日证实撞车事故已导致司机身亡。这是已知的首起此类事故，事故原因仍在调查之中。该事故迫使汽车行业的高管和监管者们去确保安全地运用自动驾驶技术。这可能导致美国政府原定于本月为自动驾驶汽车制定指导原则的计划被推迟。
The fatal crash of a Tesla Motors Inc Model S in Autopilot mode has turned up pressure on auto industry executives and regulators to ensure that automated driving technology is deployed safely.
The first such known accident, which occurred in Florida in May, has highlighted tensions surrounding efforts to turn over responsibility for braking, steering and driving judgments to machines. It may delay the U.S. government's plan to outline guidelines for self-driving cars this month.
The cause of the Model S crash is still under investigation by federal and Florida state authorities, which are looking into whether the driver was distracted before his 2015 Model S went under a truck trailer. (Reuters)
6. 贝卢斯科尼称已经将AC米兰出售给一个中国联合体。
Berlusconi: AC Milan sold to Chinese consortium
贝卢斯科尼表示，中国买家在今后两年将至少支付4亿欧元，这可能使得该俱乐部包括债务在内的估值最高达到7.5亿欧元。现年79岁的贝卢斯科尼此前曾四次担任意大利首相，但后被判犯有税务欺诈和受贿。而AC米兰在去年则亏损9350万欧元。许多欧洲队现在都被富有的亚洲或中东投资者或公司拥有或资助。上个月当地的竞争对手国际米兰被出售给中国电子零售商苏宁集团，而中国商人夏建通也在上个月完成了7600万英镑收购英国阿斯顿维拉俱乐部的交易。
（图片来源：in-cyprus.com）
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he has sold football club AC Milan to a Chinese consortium.
He said they will be paying at least €400m (?220m) over the next two years, which may value the club at up to €750m including debt.
Berlusconi, 79, has served as prime minister four times but was convicted of tax fraud and bribery.
It (AC Milan) posted a loss of €93.5m ($104m) last year.
Many European teams are now owned or bankrolled by wealthy Asian or Middle Eastern investors or companies.
Local rival Inter Milan was sold to Chinese electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group last month.
And last month Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia completed his ?76m takeover of Championship club Aston Villa. (BBC)
7. Medivation同意就100亿美元的收购交易进行商谈。
Medivation agrees to $10bn takeover talks
美国生物科技公司Medivation已经同意，和包括法国赛诺菲在内的全球大型制药集团就约100亿美元的收购交易进行商谈。这结束了此前持续数月的敌意收购，这些收购方曾试图将Medivation的整个董事会撤换掉（听起来是不是有点像那个…万达）。据熟悉该商谈的消息人士透露，Medivation上周拒绝了赛诺菲提出的每股58美元的报价，但同意和赛诺菲签署保密协议，而此前已经与辉瑞和新基签署了类似的协议安排。根据预测，到2020年Medivation的前列腺癌拳头产品Xtandi将会带来约57亿美元的全球收入，而该公司还有两款用于治疗乳腺癌和血癌的研发新药。
Medivation, the US biotech company, has agreed to hold talks about a $10bn sale with large global pharmaceutical groups including France's Sanofi, ending a multi-month hostile pursuit that saw the latter attempt to replace its target's entire board.
One person close to the deal talks said that Medivation rejected Sanofi's $58 offer last week, but offered the French company the opportunity to sign a confidentiality agreement after striking similar arrangements with two other suitors, Pfizer and Celgene.
Xtandi, Medivation's blockbuster prostate cancer drug, is forecast to generate roughly $5.7bn in global revenues by 2020 and the company also has two pipeline drugs for the treatment of breast cancer and blood cancer. (FT)
8. 雪佛龙批准了370亿美元的哈萨克斯坦油田扩大投资计划。
Chevron approves $37bn Kazakhstan oilfield expansion
美国石油公司雪佛龙批准了在哈萨克斯坦田吉兹油田的368亿美元扩大投资，成为这一个十年以来私有石油公司的最大一笔投资。自2014年中期以来，油价暴跌导致大量的投资推迟和取消，而曾经"七姐妹"之一的雪佛龙这一举动显然逆潮流而动。该投资将使田吉兹的原油产量提高26万桶每天，并按计划将于2022年产油。小编表示，实在不知道这是市场向好的信号，还是进一步让市场雪上加霜的动作。
A $36.8bn expansion of the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, the largest investment by private sector oil companies this decade, has been given the go-ahead by Chevron of the US, bucking the trend of delays and cancellations resulting from the slump in crude prices since mid-2014.
The investment will add 260,000 barrels a day of crude to production at Tengiz. That would increase the output at TCO, the Chevron-led consortium that runs the field, by 44 per cent from its average of 595,000 b/d last year. The expansion is scheduled to deliver oil from 2022. (FT)
9. 机器人律师推翻了超过16万件停车罚单。
Robot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets, and counting
DoNotPay是一个基于聊天的在线平台，为那些希望推翻停车罚单的个人提供法律指导和支持。换言之，DoNotPay是一个机器人律师，而它的成功也受到快速自动化的法律群体的紧张关注。启用不到两年的时间里，DoNotPay平台已经在伦敦和纽约的25万件停车罚单案子中推翻了超过16万件，使得这名机器人律师的胜诉率达到了64%。
（图片来源：Global Legal Post）
DoNotPay is a chat-based online platform that offers legal guidance and support to individuals looking to overturn parking tickets. In other words, DoNotPay is a robotic lawyer, and it's success is drawing nervous glances from all corners of the rapidly automating legal community. Since launching less than two years ago, the DoNotPay platform has overturned more than 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York out of a total of 250,000 cases, giving the robo-attorney a solid success rate of 64 per cent. (Global Legal Post; BigLaw Business; Australasian Lawyer)
10. 大成（Dentons） 将在美国启动覆盖50个州的游说网络。
Dentons to launch 50-state lobbying network
该所美国政策和法规业务的联合负责人Eric Tanenblatt去年秋天聘用了保险公司Anthem 的游说者Amy Odom，来推进该举措。Odom女士表示，大成在佐治亚州、纽约、加州、科罗拉多州和密苏里州有自己的全职游说者，在德州和伊利诺斯州也有具备公共事务经验的人员，不过没有注册为游说者。该所还在华盛顿有大量的联邦游说业务。而在其他州，大成和当地公共事务律所联合。Odom女士称，大成已经和涵盖17或18个州的8个游说网络成员签署了协议书，并有望在年底覆盖全部50个州。
Eric Tanenblatt, co-leader of the firm's US public policy and regulation practice, recruited Amy Odom, lobbyist for health insurer Anthem, last autumn to get the effort off the ground. Both are based in Atlanta, the former headquarters for McKenna Long & Aldridge, which Dentons acquired a year ago.
Ms Odom said Dentons has its own full-time lobbyists in Georgia, New York, California, Colorado and Missouri, as well as people with public affairs experience in Texas and Illinois who aren't registered as lobbyists. The firm also has a large federal lobbying practice in Washington.
Dentons is affiliating with local public affairs firms in the remaining states. Ms Odom said Dentons has signed letters of agreement with eight network members that cover 17 or 18 states and expects to have all 50 states covered by year's end. (The American Lawyer)
11. 据Dealwatch报道，在10亿美元的美国防务公司收购交易中，金杜担任长期客户TransDigm的牵头法律顾问。
Dealwatch: KWM leads for regular client TransDigm on $1bn US defence purchase
在防务公司Data Device Corporation（DDC）出售给美国上市公司航空设备制造商TransDigm Group的交易中，金杜律师事务所、美国瑞生律师事务所和克利夫兰一家律所BakerHostetler担任该交易的法律顾问，交易金额为10亿美元。DDC的母公司是ILC Holdings，而ILC Holdings又属于伯曼资本（Behrman Capital）。TransDigm是金杜的主要客户之一，这次金杜和BakerHostetler一起担任其法律顾问，后者负责该交易美国方面的事务。瑞生则担任伯曼资本的法律顾问。该笔交易预计将在2016年第三季度完成。
King & Wood Mallesons, Latham & Watkins and Cleveland firm BakerHostetler have advised on the $1bn sale of defense company Data Device Corporation (DDC) to TransDigm Group.
DDC, which designs data and motion control systems for advanced military and space vehicles, will be owned by US-listed aerospace manufacturer TransDigm after TransDigm pays $1bn for the parent company of DDC, ILC Holdings. ILC is owned by private equity firm Behrman Capital.
KWM acted on the deal alongside BakerHostetler which advised TransDigm on US aspects of the deal. Latham acted for Behrman Capital.
The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016. (Legal Business)
12. 据称肯尼亚警察超越职权杀死包括律师在内的三人，引发肯尼亚人的抗议。
Kenyans protest over alleged extrajudicial killings of trio by police
Willie Kimani是肯尼亚首都的一名高等法院律师，被认为在上周受到警察折磨后被警察杀死。Kimani代理一名摩托出租车司机Josephat Mwendwa，该司机在4月份被警察射伤，并在向当局投诉后遭到警察骚扰。证人称，他们在庭审后不久就在一个警察局的地下牢房看见该律师和他的客户。数天后，在河里发现了他们两人和所搭乘出租车司机的尸体。数百人在肯尼亚举行游行，抗议警察明显的滥杀无辜。Naitore Nyamu律师表示，她的律师同伴们被深深地震惊了。肯尼亚的律师称他们将会在本周联合抵制、拒绝出庭，使得超负荷的法律系统陷入瘫痪。
（图片：Dai Kurokawa/EPA）
Hundreds of people have marched in Kenya to protest against the apparent extrajudicial killing by police of a human rights lawyer, his client and their driver.
Willie Kimani, a high court lawyer in the Kenyan capital, is thought to have been tortured before being killed last week.
He was representing Josephat Mwendwa, a motorcycle taxi driver who was shot and injured by police in April, and faced a campaign of police harassment when he complained to authorities.
Witnesses said they saw the lawyer and his client in a basement cell at a police station shortly after the hearing. Their bodies, and the body of the taxi driver, were found in a river several days later.
Lawyer Naitore Nyamu said her colleagues had been profoundly shocked. Lawyers across Kenya have said they will boycott courts this week, paralysing the overloaded legal system. (The Guardian)
13. 因涉嫌狂热的犯罪行为，达尔文警方逮捕了三名少年。
Police arrest teenagers over Darwin crime spree
在这些犯罪中，一名女子被用刀尖胁迫抢劫，一名出租车司机被用铁条威胁，还有各种房屋被破入、汽车被盗等。这三名少年分别只有17、15和13岁。警方称逮捕过程中并未发生冲突事件。
Police in Darwin have arrested three teenagers over a crime spree in which a woman was robbed at knifepoint and a taxi driver was threatened with an iron bar.
Investigators had been looking for the boys aged 17, 15 and 13, after a number of properties were broken into and two cars - a black Holden ute and a white Toyota Prado - were stolen from Ludmilla and Stuart Park overnight, Duty Superintendent Brendan Muldoon said.
A statement from NT Police today said the boys had been arrested without incident. (ABC)
14. 对英国的性工作者来说，这是一个激进的时刻。
A radical moment for Britain's sex workers
在英国，成人之间在同意的基础上用性来交换金钱是合法的，但开妓院和站街招揽等相关行为却构成犯罪。这意味着性工作者通常不得不彼此隔离并在避免警察的地方工作，这使其很容易遭受攻击。2013年10月29日，Mariana Popa就在伦敦东部的雷德布里奇被捅死，而她刚在三周前从罗马尼亚来到英国。在1990年至2015年期间，据估计有152名性工作者被谋杀，Popa只是其中之一。现在，这一情况终于有了变化。上周五，一个国会议员组成的跨党派小组提出激烈呼吁，要求不再将性工作者的招揽行为定为犯罪。英国内政事务特别委员会卖淫调查的中期报告中，要求作为一项紧急事项，废除那些将性工作者招揽和共享工作场所定性为犯罪的法律。
When Mariana Popa was stabbed to death in Redbridge, east London, in the early hours of 29 October 2013, she had been working later than usual to pay off a police fine for soliciting. It was issued as part of Operation Clearlight - a police campaign to drive prostitutes from the street. Crucially, she was working alone.
The exchange of sex for money between consenting adults is legal in the UK, but associated activities - brothel-keeping and soliciting - are criminalised, which means sex workers are often forced to work isolated from one another and in locations to avoid the police, making them vulnerable to attack. Popa, who had arrived from Romania only three weeks before, became another statistic: one of an estimated 152 sex workers murdered between 1990 and 2015.
So Friday's radical call by a cross-party group of senior MPs for soliciting by sex workers to be decriminalised could not have come sooner; the home affairs select committee prostitution inquiry's interim report requests that laws criminalising soliciting and the sharing of premises by sex workers be repealed as a matter of urgency. (The Guardian)
15. 前雷曼交易员在索赔8300万美元"意外之财"奖金的诉讼中败诉。
Ex-Lehman trader loses bid for $83 mln 'windfall' bonus -judge
周三一名联邦法官判决，前雷曼兄弟的明星交易员Jonathan Hoffman无权在巴克莱已经支付的类似金额之外，再从破产的雷曼兄弟获取8300万美元奖金。
A federal judge on Wednesday said a former star Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc trader was not entitled to an $83 million bonus he claimed he was owed following the investment bank's 2008 collapse, on top of a similar sum that Barclays Plc already paid him.
U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan also said the former trader Jonathan Hoffman did not deserve $7.7 million that a federal bankruptcy judge had said he could recoup from the estate of Lehman's brokerage unit, Lehman Brothers Inc, based on an unpaid installment from his 2007 bonus.
Hoffman's quest for additional pay is one of the largest lawsuits left in the wind-down of Lehman, whose Sept. 15, 2008 bankruptcy remains the biggest in U.S. history and helped trigger a global financial crisis. (Reuters)
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