The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US federal financial markets regulator, has been investigating Amazon for more than a year, accusing it of copying the products of its third-party sellers.
A case that dates back to 2020
These allegations are not new since in April 2020, the wall street journal claimed in an investigation that the e-commerce giant used this anti-competitive practice, which consists of copying the products of third-party sellers present on its platform for its own products, and then highlighting them to the detriment of others.
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Initially, the firm denied these accusations outright but launched an internal investigation anyway. However, she refused to deliver the conclusions to a special committee of the American Congress in charge of investigating the practices of the technological giants of the country. Remember, this investigation had led to a historic hearing of the CEOs of the GAFAs, during which Amazon had also cast doubt on the use or not of the data of third-party sellers by the company.
The SEC has requested documents from several Amazon executives
Furthermore, the wall street journal reports that members of the House Judiciary Committee reported to the Justice Department that some Amazon executives potentially obstructed the investigation. “ There is no factual basis for this, as demonstrated by the enormous volume of information we have provided over several years of good faith cooperation with this investigation. “, however, said a spokesperson for the company on this subject.
The United States Capitol, symbol of the American legislative power where Congress sits. Photography: Andy Feliciotti / Unsplash
These various entities of the American authorities are not the only ones interested in the case of Amazon: the division in charge of the application of the law of the SEC has thus requested emails and communications from several Amazon executives as part of an investigation. As a reminder, the SEC is responsible for regulating how publicly traded companies communicate with their investors. It can impose fines and other penalties on them if it finds that they have failed to disclose material business information in a timely manner.
Suspicions also outside the United States
Copying the products of its third-party sellers is also blamed on Amazon in countries other than the United States. Also in 2020, the European Commission said the firm violated EU competition law by using data from third-party sellers. An extensive survey conducted by Reuters also revealed that in India, Amazon copied products from third-party sellers and then promoted them in its search results.
The e-commerce giant is also the target of the authorities for other reasons. For example, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal agency responsible in particular for enforcing consumer law and controlling anti-competitive business practices, is also investigating the company. Amazon also has cause for concern, since the new leader of the agency, Lina Khan, is a fervent opponent of the company, which has also requested its recusal from the American government.
Like other American technology giants like Meta and Google, Amazon no longer enjoys the same impunity as before and must now answer for its actions before the law. For its part, the SEC has very rarely sanctioned companies; she nonetheless alleged that Meta had misled investors about the risk of misuse of user data following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Following this, Mark Zuckerberg’s firm settled $100 million without the SEC going any further.