Australia judge questions Mastercard defense, criticizes witness in antitrust trial
By Saloni Sinha ( June 3, 2026, 08:56 GMT | Insight) -- An Australian judge questioned Mastercard’s defense of retailer agreements and criticized the evidence of a key former executive as closing arguments continued in a landmark antitrust trial on Wednesday. Federal Court Judge Michael Wigney repeatedly challenged Mastercard’s explanation for bundling credit and debit services in agreements with major merchants and questioned the use of routing restrictions and minimum-volume commitments. Wigney also described former Mastercard executive Chris Ponton Dwyer as a bad witness, while Mastercard argued he had no incentive to tailor his evidence in the company’s favor.An Australian judge on Wednesday questioned Mastercard’s defense of its retailer agreements and criticized a key company witness as closing arguments continued in a long-running antitrust trial brought by the country’s competition regulator....
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