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Tag: FINE

  • Tech giants pay $220 million in taxes

    Tech giants pay $220 million in taxes

    Cross-borders platforms like Facebook and Google have paid VND5.1 trillion ($220 million) in taxes for the period between 2018 and 2021, says Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc.

    He informed lawmakers in a report that by April 2021, Facebook had been taxed VND1.97 trillion; Google, VND1.9 trillion; and Microsoft, VND651 billion.

    The figures were 15 percent higher than Phoc’s report in March.

    Vietnamese authorities also collected VND735 billion from handling violations and tax avoidance by individuals and organizations providing cross-border digital and e-commerce services, the report said.

    Last year, Vietnam earned VND1.32 trillion from taxing cross-border platforms, up 15 percent from 2020.

    The General Department of Taxation said last year that Facebook, Google, Netflix, YouTube and other cross-border platforms were not fulfilling their tax obligations in Vietnam.

    Vietnam is also looking to tax online sellers, both on e-commerce platforms and social media, as e-commerce sales have been surging by double-digits in recent years.

    Phoc called for tightening regulations and upgrading the capacity of collectors in order to tackle tax evasion more effectively.

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  • Disgraced McDonald’s ex-CEO pays back US$105m in settlement

    Disgraced McDonald’s ex-CEO pays back US$105m in settlement

    McDonald’s has settled a lawsuit with former CEO Steve Easterbrook, forcing the disgraced executive to repay his severance package of more than $100 million.

    Easterbrook was fired in 2019 after the fast-food giant’s board determined that he violated company policy by demonstrating poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee. In August 2020, McDonald’s filed a lawsuit against Easterbrook for lying to the board about the extent of his relationships with employees.

    In a filing to the US Security and Exchange Commission Thursday, McDonald’s criticized Easterbrook for his misconduct, lies, and efforts to impede investigations into his actions and that the settlement is the best path forward.

    This settlement holds Steve Easterbrook accountable for his clear misconduct, including the way in which he exploited his position as CEO, Enrique Hernandez, Jr., the chairman of McDonald’s board of directors, said in the filing. The resolution avoids a protracted court process and allows us to move forward.

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  • Chinese Regulators Call In Tesla Over Customer Complaints

    Chinese Regulators Call In Tesla Over Customer Complaints

    Chinese government officials have met representatives from U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc over reports from consumers about battery fires, unexpected acceleration, and failures in over-the-air software updates, a regulator said on Monday. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said in a social media post its officials, along with those from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Emergency Management, Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Transportation had met Tesla “recently”, without giving a date.

    The officials urged Tesla to operate according to China’s laws and protect customer rights, the regulator said. In response, Tesla said it would thoroughly investigate the problems reported by consumers and step up inspections.

    “We will strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations and always respect consumer rights,” a company representative said in a text message, adding that Tesla accepted the guidance of the Chinese government departments.

    China is pushing the industry to make more electric vehicles as it tries to reduce air pollution.

    Tesla is building Model 3 electric sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles at its Shanghai factory. It sold 15,484 China-made vehicles in January.

    The industry ministry in May urged Tesla to ensure consistency in its China-made vehicles after some Chinese customers complained about less advanced computer chips in their cars.

    China, the world’s biggest auto market, is pushing the industry to make more electric vehicles as it tries to reduce air pollution.

    Sales of electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles in China are forecast to rise to 20% of all new car sales by 2025 from just 5% now, the State Council said last year.

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  • Apple fined €1.2 billion for price fixing in Europe

    Apple fined €1.2 billion for price fixing in Europe

    US tech firm Apple has been found guilty of anti-competitive behavior by a French antitrust body and fined €1.1 billion (US$1.32 billion).

    The firm was found to have fixed costs for its French wholesalers to force them to set retail prices aligned with Apple’s own, both in-store and online.

    The fine is the largest ever imposed by the French antitrust body and addresses Apple’s actions to prevent the wholesalers from freely setting their own business policies. The two wholesalers were also hit with large fines.

    “Apple and its two wholesalers agreed not to compete with each other and to prevent distributors from competing with each other,” read a statement from the French regulator, “thereby sterilizing the wholesale market for Apple products”.

    Apple will appeal the ruling, claiming the ruling “relates to practices from over a decade ago and discards 30 years of legal precedent that all companies in France rely on with an order that will cause chaos for companies across all industries”.

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  • South Korea’s CU fined US$1.4 million for unfair trading

    South Korea’s CU fined US$1.4 million for unfair trading

    South Korean convenience-store operator BGF Retail has been fined for pushing exorbitant sales promotion costs onto its suppliers.

    The firm was ordered to pay KRW1.67 billion (US$1.4 million) for its breach of the Act on Fair Transactions in Large Retail Business, according to a report in The Korea Times.

    While the act forbids any retailer from forcing its supplier to shoulder more than half of any promotional cost, BGF was found to have run “two-for-one” promotional events from early 2014 to late 2016 at its CU-branded stores and passed on the majority of expenses.

    The firm pushed KRW2.39 billion ($2 million) in costs on 79 suppliers to pay for 338 promotions conducted during the period at more than 13,000 CU locations. It also failed to sign written agreements with suppliers prior to holding sales events in 76 cases.

    “This is the first time that the FTC has punished a company for forcing suppliers to shoulder more than 50 percent of the cost for two-for-one events,” said an official at Korea’s Fair Trade Commission. “The FTC will enhance monitoring and punishments for similar violations.”

    CU is currently in second place among Korea’s leading convenience store chains, with a 31.14 percent market share.

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  • Suzuki Motor Will Respond To Dutch Emissions Probe By Mid-February

    Suzuki Motor Will Respond To Dutch Emissions Probe By Mid-February

    Japan’s Suzuki Moto is co-operating with the Dutch authorities over their findings its diesel vehicles had broken the country’s emissions rules, and it is required to respond to the investigation by mid-February, it said on Friday.

    The Dutch road authority ruled on Thursday that Suzuki’s Vitara and Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel models broke emissions rules and must be fixed or face a ban on sales across Europe.

    In a statement, Suzuki said diesel versions of its Vitara and S-Cross vehicles used engines and emissions software supplied by Fiat Chrysler.

    The Dutch authorities said the vehicles in question, which are no longer in production, showed emissions levels higher than allowed following a software update in 2017, Suzuki said.

    Earlier this week, the German authorities said they were investigating Mitsubishi Motors Corp for suspected use of illegal, emissions defeat devices installed in its diesel engines.

    Regulators across the world have been clamping down on emissions devices used in diesel models since Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it used illegal software to cheat U.S. emissions tests.

  • Aeon Stores Hong Kong fined over TV sale

    Aeon Stores Hong Kong fined over TV sale

    Aeon Stores Hong Kong has been convicted and fined HKD1200 (US$153) at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts for contravening the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance (PERO) as a result of not informing a customer about its statutory obligation when selling a television set.

    A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said the department had received a complaint earlier about Aeon Stores failing to provide him with a free statutory removal service after the sale of a television set. EPD enforcement officers carried out investigations at the store and discovered that when selling television sets, staff of Aeon Stores made a false claim that customers must contact a recycler on their own to recycle their old television sets. In addition, staff of Aeon Stores did not inform customers of the sellers’ obligation to arrange a statutory removal service as well as the relevant terms. After collecting evidence, the EPD prosecuted Aeon Stores for contravening the relevant requirements under the PERO.

    The spokesman emphasised that according to the PERO, which came into effect on August 1 last year, when distributing regulated electrical equipment (REE), sellers must have a removal service plan endorsed by the EPD and proactively inform consumers in writing of the sellers’ obligation to provide a free statutory removal service as well as the relevant removal terms. Moreover, sellers must arrange a free removal service for consumers to dispose of waste equipment of the same type and provide a recycling label as well as a receipt containing the prescribed wording when distributing REE.

    The spokesman reminded all the relevant sellers that they must not make false statements to consumers or deliberately conceal the terms of their statutory removal service with a view to avoiding the relevant legal liabilities. Otherwise, they may contravene the PERO.

    First-time offenders are liable to a maximum fine of HKD5000 to HKD100,000 ($637–$12,755). A maximum fine of HKD10,000 to HKD200,000 ($1275–$25,500) may be imposed on a subsequent conviction.

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  • US Fines Hyundai $47 Million Over Dirty Diesel Engines

    US Fines Hyundai $47 Million Over Dirty Diesel Engines

    South Korean automaker Hyundai will pay a $47 million fine for illegally importing and selling dirty diesel engines in violation of American environmental rules, US authorities announced Thursday.

    Between 2012 and 2015, the company imported nearly 2,300 diesel-powered heavy construction vehicles with engines that did not meet US emissions standards, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

    “Hyundai put profits above the public’s health and the requirements of the law,” Jeffrey Bossert Clark, head of the department’s environment and natural resources division, said in a statement.

    “We will not tolerate such schemes that skirt the Clean Air Act, designed by Congress to improve air quality.”

    The case began with a whistleblower tip submitted in 2015 to the US Environmental Protection Agency, which launched criminal and civil proceedings.

    A US court earlier imposed a $2 million fine on the company for the clean air violations.

    US officials say the Hyundai diesel engines were not certified to meet emissions standards for particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, both of which contribute to disease and premature death.

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  • Whittard of Chelsea launched in Taiwan

    Whittard of Chelsea launched in Taiwan

    Fine beverages retailer Whittard of Chelsea has partnered with Ruentex Group to launch its first stores in Taiwan. The new venues, located in Breeze Nanshan department store and Mitsui Mall in Taichung, are early steps in the firm’s emerging international expansion. The firm chose Taiwan following considerable interest in the brand among Taiwanese tourists in the UK.

    Three more outlets are expected to open in the territory later this year.

    “After seeing evidence of the appeal of our brand to the Taiwanese consumer in our home market, we became very excited by the opportunity to introduce the brand to Taiwan and started looking for the right partner,” said Whittard of Chelsea’s CEO Mark Dunhill.

    “We are delighted to have secured a partnership with Ruentex Group; they have an excellent record in bringing international brands to Taiwan and we share the same passion and ambition for Whittard. Together with my colleagues in England, I look forward to working closely with them to build a successful business in the years to come.”

    Whittard recently opened on China’s Tmall platform and has also made entries into Japan and Southeast Asia.

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  • Google faces a huge fine for violating privacy rules

    Google faces a huge fine for violating privacy rules

    Last year, the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) designed to boost privacy rights in the union. Under this regulation, companies in the EU cannot use a consumer’s personal data without informed, explicit consent. A company found to have violated the GDPR can be socked with a fine as large as 4% of the company’s prior year global revenue.

    With Google’s European headquarters based in Ireland, the company is now being investigated for GDPR violations by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC). The genesis of the complaint is interesting. The developers of an app called Brave Browser were among those claiming that Google is not playing by GDPR rules when it collects personal data for advertisers. When someone using the Browser visits a website, the app’s developers state that personal information belonging to the user is sent out to hundreds of companies without the user’s knowledge. These companies use this data in order to place bids to place targeted ads.

    “We will engage fully with the DPC’s investigation and welcome the opportunity for further clarification of Europe’s data protection rules for real-time bidding. Authorized buyers using our systems are subject to stringent policies and standards.”-Google

    If Google is found to have violated the GDPR, it could be fined as much as $5.52 billion based on the company’s 2018 global revenue of $138 billion. And Google is not the only tech firm under investigation by the DPC. As it turns out, Ireland is where many tech giants hang their hats in Europe and 17 tech firms are under investigation there for possible GDPR violations. Among them are Apple, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and some of its units including WhatsApp.

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  • Porsche To Pay 535 Million Euro Fine Over Diesel Affair

    Porsche To Pay 535 Million Euro Fine Over Diesel Affair

    German prosecutors have imposed a fine of 535 million euros ($598.99 million) on German luxury carmaker Porsche AG for neglecting supervisory obligations linked to diesel emissions cheating, they said in a statement on Tuesday.

    Prosecutors in the southern city of Stuttgart said that the company’s development department had neglected its legal obligations, which ultimately led to the sale of diesel cars in Europe as well as other regions that did not comply with emissions rules.

    Porsche, a subsidiary of Germany’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen, has not appealed, they added.

    Porsche confirmed the fine and said that prosecutors’ proceedings against the company had now come to an end.

  • Senators want FTC to send a Massive Fine to Facebook

    Senators want FTC to send a Massive Fine to Facebook

    A couple of days ago we told you that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could be days away from announcing a fine against Facebook in the amount of $3 billion to $5 billion. The FTC is trying to decide how much to punish Facebook and is negotiating a settlement with the company. While there have been a number of privacy issues involving the social media app/site over the last few years, back in 2016 it violated a previous FTC consent decree it had signed five years earlier. Under the terms of that deal, Facebook agreed not to use subscribers’ personal data without obtaining consent; however, during the 2016 presidential campaign, 87 million members had their profiles used without permission by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

    Two U.S. senators want the FTC to fine Facebook more than $5 billion and force the company to make “sweeping changes.” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), both members of a sub-committee that oversees the FTC, wrote a letter to the regulatory agency today. In the letter, the senators said that Facebook should receive a large enough fine that it would act as a deterrent to prevent future violations. They also want to put limits on Facebook’s use of consumer data, force the deletion of tracking data, stop the practice of collecting certain consumer information and revise its advertising policies. In addition, Blumenthal and Hawley want Facebook to put up a firewall blocking its other apps (like Instagram and WhatsApp) from sharing consumer data with each other.

    “The Commission should pursue deterrent monetary penalties and impose forceful accountability measures on Facebook, including limits on the use of consumer data, managerial responsibility for violations, and other structural remedies to stop further breaches of consumer trust.”-Letter to FTC from Senators Blumenthal and Hawley.

    Considering that the company took in more than $56 billion last year, a $5 billion fine might not be high enough to deter Facebook from committing future privacy violations. In addition, the senators say that Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg must be held accountable for failing to keep Facebook members’ profiles private. The FTC is also considering taking action against the executive.

    In anticipation of the fine, Facebook took a $3 billion charge against its first-quarter earnings. Even with this adjustment, Facebook reported $2.4 billion in net profits during the three month period running from January through March.

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  • Apple faces a fineof $26.6 billion in antitrust probe

    Apple faces a fineof $26.6 billion in antitrust probe

    The Financial Times reports today that complaints made by music streamer Spotify against Apple will be investigated by the EU competition commission. The issue is the 30% cut of revenue that Apple charges apps in the App Store for using its payment system. Spotify calls this the “Apple Tax” and complains that it gives rival streamer Apple Music an unfair advantage. The complaint was originally lodged in March. While Apple takes 30% from Spotify and other music subscription services, it doesn’t charge other apps like Uber.

    If the EU rules in favor of Spotify, it can force Apple to change its business practices on the continent and fine Apple up to 10% of the company’s global revenue. In Apple’s case, the fine could total as much as $26.6 billion. Most likely, Apple and the EU competition committee will work out a settlement with the company promising to lower or end the so-called “Apple Tax.”

    Both Apple Music and Spotify have similar monthly subscription rates, with both charging $9.99 a month for an individual subscription, $14.99 a month for families with up to six members, and $4.99 a month for verified students. However, because of Apple’s 30% cut, in the App Store Spotify charges $12.99 a month for individuals, $16.99 a month for families and $7.99 a month for verified students. Unlike Apple, Spotify does have a free tier of service that is ad-supported, although it doesn’t allow users to download music or select individual songs.

    Just last week, Spotify announced that it grew the number of its paying Premium tier subscribers by 32% year-over-year during the first quarter. The company now has 100 million paying subscribers and 117 million who use the free ad-supported service. At last count, Apple Music had 56 million paying subscribers worldwide. However, in the states, it is Apple Music on top-barely. Just recently, the Wall Street Journal said that in the U.S., Apple Music has 28 million paying subscribers compared to 26 million for Spotify.

    A lawyer at Clifford Chance that helped Spotify file its complaint, Thomas Vinje, said that there are other music streamers that agree with Spotify’s position. However, Vinje says that these other companies are “too afraid to take on Apple.” Back in March, Apple responded to the charges by pointing out that Spotify used the App Store to grow its business over the years without making any contributions to it in return.

    “After using the App Store for years to dramatically grow their business, Spotify seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem — including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store’s customers — without making any contributions to that marketplace. At the same time, they distribute the music you love while making ever-smaller contributions to the artists, musicians, and songwriters who create it — even going so far as to take these creators to court.
    Spotify has every right to determine their own business model, but we feel an obligation to respond when Spotify wraps its financial motivations in misleading rhetoric about who we are, what we’ve built and what we do to support independent developers, musicians, songwriters and creators of all stripes.”-Apple

    Apple has been fined before by the EU’s competition commission. In 2017, commissioner Margrethe Vestager ruled that Apple had to pay 13 billion Euros ($14.6 billion USD) in back taxes. The commission found that a tax deal Apple had with Ireland was actually considered to be illegal state-aid from the country.

  • Facebook expects to be hit hard by the FTC

    Facebook expects to be hit hard by the FTC

    After word got out last year that 87 million Facebook members had their profiles sold to political consultant Cambridge Analytica without permission, the Federal Trade Commission started an investigation. After all, this action violated an FTC consent decree that Facebook signed off on back in 2011, promising not to use subscribers’ personal data without consent.

    Facebook announced its first-quarter results today and took a charge of $3 billion to cover an anticipated fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Neither side has reached an agreement, but clearly, Facebook expects to be spanked pretty hard by the FTC. The company noted in its report that it faces a fine as high as $5 billion from the FTC. The 87 million profiles received by Cambridge Analytica were reportedly used to created profiles of voters used by the 2016 Trump campaign to determine the areas of the country where more money needed to be spent for advertising.

    Facebook also announced today that 2.1 billion people use Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram on a daily basis, and 2.7 billion use one of these members of the Facebook family at least once a month. At the end of the three months that included January through March of this year, Facebook had $45.42 billion in the vault. That’s after the company spent $3.96 billion on capital expenditures during the quarter.

    For the first quarter of 2019, Facebook had $15.1 billion in revenue. That was up 26% from the $12 billion it raked in during the same quarter a year earlier. Net came to $2.4 billion (or 85 cents a share) against $5 billion earned during the first quarter of 2018. But those results include the $3 billion charge. Without the charge, Facebook would have earned $1.89 per share vs. the $1.69 it reported for the first three months last year.

  • Online electronics retailer EasyTalk fined for TV Commercial

    Online electronics retailer EasyTalk fined for TV Commercial

    Electrical equipment seller EasyTalk has been convicted of five charges under the Product Eco-Responsibility Ordinance.

    The company is the first of seven Hong Kong electronics retailers caught suspected of violating the Product Eco-Responsibility Ordinance (PERO), with the other six to face hearings this month and next.

    EasyTalk Group Company was convicted and fined $6500 at Fanling Magistrates’ Courts yesterday on five charges of contravening PERO when selling a television set.

    Under PERO, which came into effect last August, when distributing regulated electrical equipment, sellers must have a removal service plan (RSP) endorsed by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and proactively inform consumers of the sellers’ obligation for the provision of a free statutory removal service as well as the relevant removal terms in writing.

    Moreover, sellers must arrange a free removal service for consumers to dispose of the same type of waste equipment and provide a recycling label and a receipt containing the prescribed wording when distributing regulated electrical equipment.

    A spokesman for the EPD said the organisation received a complaint last August about a customer purchasing a television set from EasyTalk Group through the instant-messaging application WhatsApp. Staff of the company claimed that the EPD would collect the used television set for recycling in several days. However, the customer was later requested to make the removal arrangements himself after the purchase.

    During an investigation, EPD enforcement officers found that the seller not only did not arrange the statutory removal service for the complainant, but also did not have an RSP endorsed by the EPD and did not provide recycling labels as well as a receipt containing the prescribed wording according to the regulation.

    The spokesman reminded all retailers – those with physical stores and those selling online or via apps – that they must not make false statements to consumers or offer them a removal service that is contravening the law, thus avoiding relevant liabilities and charging consumers for the removal service.

    First-time offenders are liable to a maximum fine of between $5000 and $100,000. Upon a second or subsequent conviction, the fine increases to between $10,000 and $200,000.

    Consumers have been urged to contact the EPD immediately if they find any seller not conforming to the PERO regulations.

    “The EPD will take strict enforcement action against sellers who violate the PERO,” he said.