By Saloni Sinha ( May 7, 2026, 08:04 GMT | Insight) -- External legal advice to Mastercard suggested the company should frame termination rights around transaction targets rather than merchant “routing” in agreements, according to evidence aired in an ongoing Australian antitrust trial. In a Federal Court hearing on Thursday, lawyer James Arnott, acting for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, took the court and Mastercard’s Surin Fernando to an October 2019 email from Melissa Letford, Mastercard’s former in-house legal adviser, mentioning advice from external competition lawyers.External legal advice to Mastercard suggested the company should frame termination rights around transaction targets rather than merchant “routing” in agreements, according to evidence aired in an ongoing Australian antitrust trial....
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