watchdog news and archive

Amazon fined 1.1 billion euros for unfair competition

As it leaves its European rivals eating dust, Amazon has found a hiccough in Italy: the country’s competitions watchdog has slapped the American retail giant with a 1.13b billion euro (965m pounds) fine for harming rival e-commerce logistics services and promoting its own. The regulator said Amazon negatively impacted rivals by only giving...

BusinessFeatured

Google fined 220m euros for advertising abuse in France

Google has been fined 220 million euros (189m pounds) by France’s Autorité de la concurrence, the country’s competition authority, for abusing its advertising power. Other European countries could soon follow suit under strict European advertising rules. The French competition watchdog said Google has been promoting its own digital advertising...

Fashion Featured

Saint Laurent 'degrading' ad campaign sparks online fury

A new publicity campaign featuring painfully thin models in "degrading" poses for the French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent sparked outrage Monday, with calls for it to be banned. The poster campaign across Paris of a reclining woman in a fur coat and fishnet tights opening her legs, and another of a model in a leotard and roller skate...

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Italy fines LVMH boss over Bulgari deal

Italy's stock exchange watchdog has fined Antonio Belloni, managing director of French luxury group LVMH, 350,000 euros (389,000 US dollars ) for divulging confidential information about an upcoming acquisition, it announced Wednesday. The fine relates to the 2011 announcement by Italian jewellery firm Bulgari that it had been taken over by...

Fashion

Jack Wills advert banned for being 'sexually suggestive'

London - An advert from high street retailer Jack Wills in a direct mail catalogue has been banned by the UK advertising watchdog for featuring 'sexually suggestive' images and text. The advert, which was featured in the spring catalogue of Jack Wills in February, depicted female and male models in the retailer's underwear, dancing and drinking...