U.S. Supreme Court to review Amex arbitration case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether American Express Co may invoke an arbitration clause to prevent its merchant customers from banding together in an antitrust lawsuit against the company.

The court accepted the credit card and travel services company's appeal from a February ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that found the arbitration clause unenforceable.

A decision could determine the extent to which companies might rely on arbitration clauses to fend off federal class-action lawsuits.

(Reporting by Terry Baynes and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh)