By Sara Stefanini

Law360, New York (March 26, 2008, 12:00 AM ET) -- The European Commission kicked off antitrust proceedings on Wednesday against Visa Europe Ltd. in an attempt to assess whether the credit card company's multilateral interchange fees violate a ban against restrictive business practices.

The commission's probe into the interchange fees that Visa Europe charges for cross-border point-of-sale transactions follows just a few months behind its ruling deeming MasterCard Europe's interchange fees illegal and anti-competitive.

Visa Europe said it had been expecting the EC's announcement and called the proceedings a “standard procedural step.” Interchange fees benefit both...