By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday defeated a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of nearly 7,000 workers in California that claimed the company should have reimbursed employees who worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic for home office expenses.

U.S. District Judge Vincent Chhabria in San Francisco said the named plaintiff, David Williams, failed to show that Amazon had a company-wide policy of not reimbursing employees for internet, cell phone and other costs, and the judge denied his motion to certify the workers as a class.

The judge said that more than 600 of the 7,000 proposed class members were reimbursed $66.49 on average for home internet expenses, and some were reimbursed in full.

Williams’ motion for class certification was denied without prejudice, meaning he can file a renewed motion later on. 

Amazon and lawyers for Williams did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Williams sued Amazon in 2021 individually and added class-action claims last year. He has accused Amazon of violating a California law requiring employers to reimburse workers for reasonable work-related expenses.

Chhabria in January denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss the case. The company had argued that it did not owe reimbursements because the costs resulted from government stay-at-home orders and not any decision by Amazon.

Williams’ lawyers have filed similar lawsuits against several other companies including IBM Corp, Fox Broadcasting Co and Oracle Corp. Some of those cases have settled, with businesses agreeing to give remote workers stipends of up to $83 per month to cover home office expenses.

(This story has been refiled to add the dropped word “in” in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

BEIJING (Reuters) -China will set up a new financial regulatory body consolidating oversight, which analysts said was aimed at closing loopholes with multiple agencies monitoring different aspects of trillions of dollars’ worth of its financial services industry.

The government will also set up a bureau responsible for coordinating the sharing and development of data resources, according to a plan submitted to parliament on Tuesday.

The new financial regulator will replace the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) and bring supervision of the industry, excluding the securities sector, into a body directly under the State Council, or cabinet.

The proposal for setting up the new regulator, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, was presented to China’s parliament during its annual meeting on Tuesday.

China’s financial sector is overseen by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the CBIRC, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), with the cabinet’s Financial Stability and Development Committee having overall responsibility.

Under the new plan, the CBIRC’s responsibilities would move to the new administration along with certain functions of the central bank PBOC and securities regulator CSRC. 

The setting up of the new financial regulatory body comes as Beijing seeks to rein in large corporate and financial institutions that may bring systemic risks via regulatory arbitrage among multiple authorities.

In the last couple of years, a string of private enterprises in China, including fintech giant Ant Group, have come under scrutiny of multiple watchdogs after years of laissez-faire regulatory approach.

Citigroup said in a research note regulatory loopholes under “multiple regulators” could be bridged with the establishment of the new body. Financial regulation overlap especially at the local level should be reduced as well, it said.

The regulatory shake-up also comes after President Xi Jinping, who clinched a precedent-breaking third leadership term in October, last week renewed his call for ambitious reforms of Communist Party and state institutions.

The National People’s Congress (NPC), which closes on Monday, is also set to confirm a slate of new leaders including Li Qiang, who is set to be the next premier, in what is expected to be the biggest government reshuffle in a decade.

As part of the wider government revamp announced on Tuesday, staff numbers at central-level state institutions will be cut by 5%.

“You could certainly argue for better coordination between regulators but a whole new super regulatory administration may not be the solution,” said Fraser Howie, author of several books on China’s financial system.

“But centralisation of power appeals to many in China.”

The legislature will vote on the institutional reform plan on Friday.

‘STRENGTHEN SUPERVISION’

The new administration will “strengthen institutional supervision, supervision of behaviours and supervision of functions”, according to the plan. Supervision will be “penetrating” and “continuous”, the proposed plan said.

Under the existing set-up, the CBIRC combined the equivalent functions of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) in the United States, with some regulatory role held by the central bank, said Li Nan, professor of finance at Shanghai Jiaotong University.

“Now all of those regulatory functions are with the new bureau, which is basically CBIRC with some regulatory role taken back from PBOC and CSRC, which makes perfect sense,” she said.

“And the PBOC will become more focused on monetary policy afterwards, which resembles what the Fed does,” she said.

Under the plan, the PBOC’s nine regional branches will be abolished, replaced by 36 branches across the country, reversing a reform that was implemented in 1998 that had mirrored the U.S. Federal Reserve system. 

Separately, sources have said China may revive the Central Financial Work Commission (CFWC), a high-level financial sector oversight body directly under Communist Party leadership, a decision on which may be revealed after the parliamentary session.

DATA REGULATOR

The proposed data bureau will be run by the powerful state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and absorb some of the functions of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, which oversees China’s internet.

The new bureau’s functions will include the exchange of information resources across industries and promoting smart cities.

China has in recent years strengthened oversight over data, concerned that unchecked collection by private firms could allow rival state actors to weaponise information on infrastructure and other national interests, and the belief that data has become a strategic economic resource.

Beijing will also restructure its science and technology ministry to concentrate resources on achieving breakthroughs, amid U.S. efforts to block Chinese access to key technology. It will also form a Central Commission on Science and Technology, increasing Communist Party control in the field.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Ziyi Tang, Xie Yu, Kane Wu, Julie Zhu, Eduardo Baptista, Brenda Goh, Laurie Chen and Selena Li; Writing by Tony Munroe and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Robert Birsel and Christina Fincher)

By Echo Wang and Lance Tupper

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sales of shares in publicly listed U.S. companies had their strongest showing last week in more than a year, as companies and some of their shareholders, such as private equity firms, capitalized on the risk appetite of stock market investors.

Stock sales reached $4.97 billion in the United States last week, the highest tally since the second week in 2022, according to data provider Dealogic. Globally, stock sales reached $12.3 billion, the most in more than 30 weeks.

Investment bankers and lawyers say companies are seeing strong demand for their stock from investors who believe now is the time to place big bets on the market recovering in the wake of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to fight inflation. It’s a risky proposition, so companies and their backers are seizing on the opportunity for fear it may soon slip away.

“Equity markets have regained some momentum and volatility has decreased, driving animal spirits on the buy side,” said Santiago Gilfond, co-head of Americas equity capital markets at Credit Suisse Group AG. He added that the sellers of stock have moderated their valuation expectations, helping to lure buyers.

Last week saw 18 so-called secondary stock sales in the U.S., including a $1.7 billion divestment by utility company American Water Works Co Inc, the fifth largest U.S. stock sale since beginning of 2022.

In another notable transaction last week, Oreo cookie maker Mondelez International Inc offloaded about a $1 billion stake in beverage firm Keurig Dr Pepper Inc in an unregistered stock sale, according to a securities filing.

Private equity firms are getting a piece of the action. Blackstone Inc last week sold a roughly $270 million stake in dating app Bumble Inc along with about $220 million position in human resources benefits platform Alight Inc, and this week, Providence Equity Partners sold a $333 million stake in software provider DoubleVerify Holdings Inc.

The surge in activity has been welcomed by bankers and lawyers working on these offerings. Collectively they executed $72.5 billion worth of stock sales for public companies in 2022, the lowest level since 1996 and a 67% drop from 2021’s deal bonanza, according to Dealogic data.

“Investors are willing to put money to work in a way that they weren’t a year ago,” said Michael Kaplan, a capital markets partner at law firm Davis Polk.

The next frontier for equity capital markets, bankers and lawyers say, are initial public offerings (IPOs), which have been subdued since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Unlike secondary stock sales, IPOs take at least a few days to market to investors, and several months to prepare, so companies can’t be as nimble in pursuing them when the market becomes welcoming.

A busy week for initial public offerings in early February offered some hope to stock market hopefuls, but advisors remain cautious as stocks sold off in recent weeks.

(Reporting by Echo Wang and Lance Tapper in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

By Foo Yun Chee and Oliver Hirt

BRUSSELS/ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan said on Tuesday that it was being investigated by European Union and Swiss antitrust authorities after the EU announced earlier it had raided several companies on concerns of a cartel in the supply of fragrances and fragrance ingredients.

The UK competition agency also opened an investigation into the same sector.

“I can confirm that we are part of an industry-wide investigation by European and Swiss authorities. As a good corporate citizen, Givaudan is fully cooperating with the authorities,” a spokesperson said.

The European Commission did not name the companies, the association or the European Union countries where the dawn raids occurred in line with its usual policy. It said the fragrances are used in consumer products such as household and personal care products.

“The Commission has concerns that companies and an association in the fragrance industry worldwide may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices,” the EU executive said in a statement.

When presented with evidence of wrongdoing, the bloc’s rules allow the EU antitrust enforcer to enter company offices, examine and take copies of records related to the business, as well as question staff.

The EU competition enforcer said it had been in contact with the U.S. Department of Justice and competition agencies in Britain and Switzerland and that the raids were conducted in consultation with them.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority said it had opened an investigation, setting a deadline of early 2024 for analysing and reviewing information gathered from the companies.

Companies face fines as much as 10% of their global turnover for violating EU antitrust rules.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Grant McCool and Aurora Ellis)

By Niket Nishant

(Reuters) -NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) and Black Knight Inc on Tuesday agreed to sell one of the mortgage data vendor’s units to quell antitrust concerns, but said they would take the battle to court to save the deal, if necessary.

Black Knight’s Empower loan origination system unit, which helps mortgage lenders manage costs and reduce processing time for loan applications, will be sold to a unit of Canada’s Constellation Software Inc, the two companies said.

Black Knight’s shares rose 3.6% , while those of the exchange operator dipped 0.2%.

The companies also amended their deal terms to reduce the valuation of Black Knight to $11.7 billion, nearly 11% lower than the valuation it had fetched when the agreement was announced last year.

The deal has come under scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission amid concerns from some U.S. lawmakers that the pricing power ICE would gain in the mortgage data market could lead to higher costs for consumers.

“ICE has committed to, among other things, litigate with the FTC, if necessary, to obtain approval of the merger,” it said.

U.S. antitrust regulators have taken a tough stance against corporate consolidation, waging battles against companies across industries including airlines, technology and finance.

“ICE’s commitment to litigate combined with the successful sale of Empower to a scale strategic buyer increases the likelihood of the merger closing, which more than offsets the lower merger consideration,” KBW analysts wrote in a note.

The divestiture will not be enough to assuage the FTC’s concerns but the quick sale to a large strategic buyer like Constellation Software should bolster the companies’ defense in a possible trial, the analysts said.

Last month, Reuters had reported the companies were planning to shed Empower.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Maju Samuel)