The trend: Amazon’s business practices are coming under increasing scrutiny.

In the UK, the Court of Appeal rejected the company’s attempt to dismiss claims that it abused its market dominance, clearing the way for two collective lawsuits to proceed, per Reuters.

• One case, brought by Andreas Stephan, seeks £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) on behalf of more than 200,000 third-party sellers and alleges Amazon manipulated its “Buy Box” and favored products that used its logistics network.
• The other, filed by consumer advocate Robert Hammond, seeks up to £1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) on behalf of millions of customers over similar conduct. The court refused Amazon permission to challenge certification, allowing both opt-out collective actions to move forward.

The ruling follows a €59 million ($70 million) fine from Germany’s Federal Cartel Office in February over improper influence on seller pricing, and a tax probe in Italy that included searches of Amazon’s Milan headquarters over potential unpaid taxes from 2019 to 2024.

In the US, California Attorney General Rob Bonta asked a state judge to issue a preliminary injunction in an ongoing antitrust case alleging price fixing. The 3.5-year lawsuit claims Amazon used tactics such as threatening to remove sellers from the Buy Box to stifle price competition and inflate consumer prices, per Reuters. A trial is set for January 2027. Amazon denies the allegations, calling the motion a distraction and arguing its agreements with merchants are legal and benefit consumers.

The context: These developments follow Amazon’s agreement to pay $2.5 billion to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, including $1 billion in civil penalties and $1.5 billion in customer refunds. The settlement also required changes to Prime enrollment and cancellation practices, including clearer disclosures and an easier opt-out process.

The FTC had accused the company of “knowingly duping” consumers into its $14.99-per-month Prime program and making cancellation unnecessarily difficult.