Visa Adding $700M to Legal Account

Visa (V Quote) plans to add $700 million into an ongoing escrow account for litigation expenses through the repurchase of common stock.

More than 16,000 financial institutions that hold Class B shares of Visa's stock, formerly the company's member banks, will "bear a corresponding financial impact via a reduction in their converted share count" as a result of funding the escrow account, according to the release. This has the effect of a repurchase by the company of $700 million of Class A Common Stock on an as converted basis, it said in a release.

Visa, which went public in March 2008, operates the world's largest electronic payments network. The company, like rival MasterCard (MA Quote), makes its money on transaction fees and does not hold customers' credit card debt on its balance sheet. ...