Christine Caulfield

Trial in a case alleging Mastercard misused its market power by striking deals with retailers to defend revenues against EFTPOS routing has heard external competition lawyers suggested removing the word 'routing' from its contract with Woolworths.

Mastercard risked losing half its revenue from retail interchange fees as a result of the Reserve Bank's least-cost routing initiative, and struck deals with top retailers to defend its core business, a court was told Wednesday.

A trial judge has heard that Mastercard's top Australian executives discussed stripping Woolworths of strategic merchant status if the supermarket giant routed customer transactions through the cheaper EFTPOS network.

Mastercard's Australia boss was anxious to sign a deal with Woolworths on payments processing after learning that Coles had chosen to route all debit transactions through the cheaper EFTPOS network, a court has heard.

Insolvency firm Cor Cordis has argued the "inordinate" task of producing WIP valuation documents in former chair Bruno Secatore's case should wait until the pleadings have been finalised and security determined.

A judge has urged the Federal Court's rules committee to settle a question hanging over liquidators seeking to bring unfair preferences proceedings against multiple defendants.

A judge has again voiced doubts about the ACCC's misleading conduct case over Woolworths' 'Prices Dropped' campaign, probing counsel for the regulator at length on Thursday about how the claims stack up.

Mastercard considered threatening Coles with losing its discounted interchange fees to rival Woolworths if the supermarket chain re-routed customer debit and credit transactions away from the payments giant, a trial judge has heard in the ACCC's misuse of market power case.

Making good on his threat to case manage the litigation with an "iron fist", a judge has set a trial date for early next year in four cases over the Port Botany Enfield Intermodal Logistics Centre.

Granting a joinder bid in an unfair preferences case over the failure of carpentry firm Empryl, a judge has urged the Federal Court's rules committee to resolve a question hanging over liquidators seeking to bring proceedings against multiple defendants.