Briefcase

Amazon faces antitrust group

Businesses that rely on Amazon.com to sell their goods are beginning to band together against the e-commerce retail behemoth.

A trio of well-connected antitrust advocates on Thursday launched the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, which represents a group of small businesses and large brands that will push for the U.S. government to pare back Amazon’s power over the online shopping ecosystem.

“We believe Amazon’s been given a pass to a large extent,” said Damien Geradin, one of the advocates spearheading the coalition. He’s a founding partner with Geradin Partners, an antitrust law firm that specializes in opposing large tech companies and other corporations.

The group will help solidify political power among companies that have struggled because of Amazon’s actions, proponents say. Amanda Lewis, a coalition co-founder and former staffer with the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, said that the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition will work to bring its stories directly to policymakers overseeing the tech companies.

Citigroup cutting workforce

Citigroup is cutting hundreds of jobs across the company, with the Wall Street giant’s investment banking division among those affected.

The cuts amount to less than 1% of Citigroup’s 240,000-person workforce, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel information. Staffers across the firm’s operations and technology organization and U.S. mortgage-underwriting arm are also among those affected.

The routine cuts are part of Citigroup’s normal business planning, the people said. There’s been no broad mandate for managers to cut staffers; instead, various divisions have been grappling with different reasons for the cuts.

A spokeswoman for Citigroup declined to comment.

The move comes just weeks after rival JPMorgan Chase cut hundreds of mortgage employees. Goldman Sachs, for its part, embarked on one of its biggest rounds of job cuts ever in January when it planned to eliminate thousands of positions across the company.

From wire reports