Apple fined record €1.1bn by French competition regulator

Tech giant conspired with wholesalers Tech Data and Ingram Micro to align prices, says watchdog

Apple has been fined a record €1.1bn (£990m) by antitrust regulators in France for engaging in anti-competitive agreements with two wholesalers. The penalty imposed on the US tech giant is the largest ever handed out to a company by the Autorité de la Concurrence.

Commenting on the move, Isabelle de Silva, head of the French competition watchdog, said: “Apple and its two wholesalers agreed to not compete against each other and prevent resellers from promoting competition between each other, thus sterilising the wholesale market for Apple products.”

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Competition regulator pauses Amazon’s deal with Deliveroo

Enforcement order issued after online retailer bought stake in food courier service

The UK’s competition regulator has ordered Amazon and the food delivery company Deliveroo to pause any integration efforts pending an investigation into potential breaches of competition rules.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Friday issued an initial enforcement order against the companies after Amazon bought a stake in Deliveroo.

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Celebrity social media influencers pledge to change way they post

Clampdown on stars being paid for endorsing products without disclosing firm rewards them

More than a dozen celebrities, including Alexa Chung and Ellie Goulding, have pledged to change the way they label social media posts after Britain’s competition watchdog clamped down on the practice of stars being paid for endorsing products without disclosing they were being rewarded by the company.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had secured formal commitments from 16 celebrities to state clearly if they have been paid or received any gifts or loans of products which they endorse.

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