Visa goes public : Visa Europe to remain member based.

(From Banking Newslink)

Visa has decided to create a new public global corporation, Visa Inc. Visa International, Visa USA and Visa Canada are to merge and then float to create the new company. Visa Europe however is to remain a membership based organisation and become a licencee of Visa Inc.

Visa state that it "expects the proposed restructuring will best position the company to meet the evolving needs of its customers and will accelerate its growth by improving organizational efficiency, addressing certain legal claims that exist in some markets, and increasing access to capital."

As with the recent MasterCard IPO the plan is for member banks to …