Letter to DOJ on Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force

Dear Sir or Madam:

The American Bankers Association ("ABA") is writing with respect to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division's request for comment regarding elimination of anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that undermine free market competition and harm consumers, workers, and businesses.

ABA respectfully submits that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's ("Board") Regulation II, implementing the so-called "Durbin Amendment" to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, should be rescinded. In the alternative, the Board should withdraw its November 2023 proposed rule regarding Regulation II interchange fee caps ("2023 Proposed Rule") and rescind its 2022 final rule regarding Regulation II routing and exclusivity restrictions ("2022 Final Rule"). As discussed further herein, Regulation II creates unnecessary barriers to competition by imposing price caps that are not required by statute, forces card issuers to enter into business relationships that they otherwise would not, and exceeds the Board’s authority with respect to net compensation, in a manner that undermines free market competition.

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