3 Min Read
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s market regulator, fresh from fining e-commerce giant Alibaba $2.75 billion, said on Tuesday it warned nearly three dozen internet companies to stop using any banned practices such as forcing vendors to use their platform exclusively.
Logos of Alibaba Group and Ant Group are seen during the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, November 23, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it summoned 34 companies including Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com for a meeting, where it ordered them to conduct self-inspections within one month, warning of “severe punishment” for any that still violated the rules.
By Reuters Staff
5 Min Read
April 12 (Reuters) - China’s Ant Group, the fintech giant whose $37 billion IPO was derailed by regulators days before it was due to list in November, is to restructure as a financial holding company.
The overhaul comes just after e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, of which Ant is an affiliate, was hit with a $2.75 billion antitrust penalty as China tightens controls on the “platform economy”.
The Alibaba business empire has come under intense scrutiny in China since its billionaire founder Jack Ma’s public criticism of the country’s regulatory system in October.
Following are key events leading up to Ant Group’s shift to a holding company and the fine on Alibaba.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
WARSAW (Reuters) -Polish PKN Orlen chief executive said a court decision to suspend the competition watchdog UOKiK’ approval of the state-backed refiner’s takeover of newspaper publisher Polska Press would have no impact because the deal has been completed.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of PKN Orlen, Poland's top oil refiner, is pictured at a petrol station in Warsaw, Poland, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Opposition political parties have said the takeover - approved by UOKiK and completed by PKN earlier this year - is part of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s wider efforts to increase its control of the media.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
WARSAW (Reuters) -Polish competition watchdog UOKiK denounced on Tuesday a court’s decision to suspend its approval of state-run refiner PKN Orlen’s takeover of newspaper publisher Polska Press, thereby temporarily blocking the deal which had been slammed by the opposition.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of PKN Orlen, Poland's top oil refiner, is pictured at a petrol station in Warsaw, Poland, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Opposition political parties have said the deal is part of a wider effort by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to take more control of the media.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Sunglasses from Ray Ban are on display at a optician shop in Hanau near Frankfurt, Germany, March 18, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - EssilorLuxottica said on Monday Dutch eyewear group GrandVision - which the French-Italian spectacles maker is attempting to buy - has agreed to sell its Chile units to the main shareholder HAL Trust.
EssilorLuxottica, whose brands include Ray-Ban and Oakley, added that the closing of the acquisition of GrandVision was still pending a sign-off from Turkey’s competition authority, as well as decisions over ongoing arbitral proceedings.
EssilorLuxottica’s 7.2 billion euros ($8.6 billion) bid to control the Dutch eyewear group’s more than 7,000 outlets across the world was one of the largest takeover deals announced globally in 2019.
Insurance broker Aon has offered concessions to gain EU antitrust approval for its $30 billion bid for rival Willis Towers Watson, a European Commission filing showed on Monday.
By Reuters Staff
5 Min Read
BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s competition watchdog is adding staff and other resources as it ramps up efforts to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour, especially among the country’s powerful companies, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at its office in Beijing, China January 5, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
Beijing’s plan to bulk up the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) comes as China revamps its competition law with proposed amendments including a sharp increase in fines and expanded criteria for judging a company’s control of a market.
China's competition watchdog is adding staff and other resources as it ramps up efforts to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour, especially among the country's powerful companies, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
(Reuters) -Britain on Thursday referred Facebook Inc’s acquisition of GIF website Giphy for an in-depth probe after Facebook told the country’s competition watchdog it would not be offering any concessions to address antitrust concerns.
FILE PHOTO: People are silhouetted as they pose with laptops in front of a screen projected with a Facebook logo, in this picture illustration taken in Zenica October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last week gave Facebook and Giphy five working days to offer proposals to address its concerns over their merger deal.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: 3D printed Lady Justice figure is seen in front of displayed Apple and Epic Games logos in this illustration photo taken February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Fortnite maker Epic Games said on Tuesday it had filed a complaint with Britain’s competition regulator in support of its investigation into Apple Inc’s anti-competitive behaviour.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority said earlier here this month it had opened an investigation into Apple after complaints that the iPhone maker's terms and conditions for app developers were unfair.
Payment policies related to Apple’s App Store have long drawn complaints from app developers as they requires them to use its payment system, which charges commission of between 15% and 30%.