Hedge funds and other speculators are eying the EU market hungrily as it loosens rules for lawsuits brought on behalf of thousands or even millions of people, says Institute for Legal Reform Senior Vice President Scévole de Cazotte in the latest issue of AmCham Croatia’s magazine.

Oral arguments began this week in the massive £14 billion collective action lawsuit over MasterCard’s interchange fees, MLex reports. The controversial case was initially rejected after a specialized court, the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT), denied certification because it said the claimant would be unable to prove that the fees were passed on to consumers, among several other reasons.

Mark Behrens, chairman of the International Association of Defense Counsel’s civil justice response committee, told National Law Journal that third party funding can “raise ethical problems” and inflate litigation costs.