The District of Columbia sued Amazon on Tuesday for allegedly “artificially raising prices for products around the web by abusing its monopoly power.” The lawsuit represents yet another sign that regulators “are increasingly turning their attention to the company’s dominance across the economy” and marks the first government antitrust suit against Bezos & Co. in the U.S. - NYTimes and WSJ and Law360 and Bloomberg
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic and in the heart of Europe, German competition officials are “investigating whether Google is dominant enough to be subject to the country’s new digital-competition law, broadening its efforts to brandish new powers against companies including Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc.” - WSJ
ExxonMobil execs and Board members are preparing for a raucous annual shareholder meeting today, as “activists contest the election of one-third of the company’s board” and are expected to push for a BlackRock-led slate of candidates set on forcing the energy giant to act more decisively on its climate change policies - NYTimes and WSJ
Yet another sure sign of a reopening American economy: fashion rental sites are BACK, baby, the boom is real - NYTimes
New TSA-directed rules coming this week in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident will require pipeline operators notify the agency “when they are targets or victims of cyberattacks” and to “designate a point person for cybersecurity” - WSJ
Trouble (or change, at least) brewing at the Fed? While Chair Powell has a strong case to make for his reappointment, recent stumbles at Credit Suisse (Greensill & Archegos, most notably) have prompted some (including Senator Warren) to question whether Randal Quarles should keep his job as the central bank’s top banking supervisor - Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Law360
Meet Isabella Casillas Guzman, the new head of the Small Business Administration charged with turning around “an agency plagued by controversy” and managing a portfolio of “nearly $1 trillion in emergency aid.” Once viewed as “sleepy backwater” in government, the pandemic thrust the SBA into the spotlight through the PPP, and it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing over the past year - NYTimes
A new federal lawsuit accuses Roblox Corp. of “ripping off users—mostly children—of its popular gaming platform by selling them in-game items and later deleting them without reimbursement.” Not a good look, if true - Bloomberg
Incredibly helpful (and relatively easy) suggestions for companies to ease the plight of and prove themselves more welcoming to working parents - Bloomberg
Banking regulators have approved Huntington Bancshares’ planned $22 billion merger with TCF Financial Corp after reaching an agreement with the companies that will see them “sell around a dozen branches in Michigan over competition concerns” – Law360
Pretty cool look at the behavioral psychology that Ikea works into its “build-it-yourself” model (and its other unconventional approaches to retailing) that actually help explain its “runaway success” (and the “Ikea effect”) - WSJ
Stay safe and get vaxxed,
MDR
