Amazon's Business Practices Catches SEC's Attention

The SEC investigated Amazon.com Inc's AMZN disclosure norms for some of its business practices, including how it uses third-party-seller data for its private-label business, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The SEC probe, which has been underway for more than a year, investigated how Amazon handled disclosures of its employees' use of data from sellers on its e-commerce platform. 

The SEC sought emails and communications from several senior Amazon executives.

A WSJ investigation in 2020 based on internal documents and interviews with former Amazon staffers found the company's employees routinely exploited individual third-party-seller data to develop products for its brands.

Amazon has since launched an internal investigation of its private-label division but refused to share its report with an investigating congressional committee.

Recently, House Judiciary Committee's antitrust members referred Amazon and some of its top executives to the Justice Department for potentially obstructing Congress during a probe of its private-label business.

After a 16 month investigation, the committee proposed a series of bills targeting Big Tech, including Amazon's private-label business.

Amazon also faced scrutiny from Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the European Commission.

Price Action: AMZN shares closed lower by 3.23% at $3,175.12 on Wednesday.

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