American Express sues Visa, MasterCard
New York: American Express Co has sued credit card companies Visa and MasterCard and eight banks for damages from alleged anti-competitive practices that prevented 20,000 US banks from using its credit card products.

American Express said it is seeking to recover damages from lost business that could total in the billions of dollars.

The bank said consumers have been damaged by the boycott by being deprived of competitive alternatives.

American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault said that the card associations functioned as a cartel. Banks who had expressed an interest in working with Amex were stopped before they could start.

Visa said in a statement it will vigorously fight the lawsuit because American Express already got what it wanted from the court — the ability to issue its products through Visa members.

MasterCard said it believes that the lawsuit is misguided. It said this would be a very different case, as American Express will need to prove that it was injured and suffered damages as a result of MasterCard's policy — claims that the reality of the marketplace demonstrate are entirely unfounded.

Last month's Supreme Court ruling stemmed from a 1998 Justice Department lawsuit challenging rules imposed by Visa and MasterCard, which operate payment systems on behalf of member banks.

Other banks named in Amex' suit include Capital One, US Bancorp, Household Bank, Wells Fargo, Providian National Bank and USAA Federal Savings Bank.
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Foreign investors give China $54 bn lift
Beijing: China received foreign direct investment to the tune of $53.8bn in the first 10 months of this year, passing last year's full-year record, as European, US and Asian manufacturing capacity accelerated its migration to the most dynamic economy in Asia.

The investment figure for October only was $5.1bn ($3.92bn, £2.74bn), sustaining that of the previous two months. The direct investment from abroad during the first 10 months was up 23.5 per cent compared with the same period a year ago and surpassed the $53.5bn for the whole of last year.
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