Amazon got 238 proposals for 2nd HQ
NEW YORK -- Amazon said Monday it received 238 proposals from cities and regions hoping to be the home of the company's second headquarters.
The online retailer kicked off its hunt for a second headquarters in September, promising to bring 50,000 new jobs and spend up to $5 billion. Proposals from cities, states and regions were due last week, and Amazon made clear that tax breaks and grants would be a big deciding factor on where it chooses to land.
Amazon.com has said the second headquarters will be a full equal to its Seattle home. The company said it will announce a decision sometime next year.
-- The Associated Press
Fidelity: No tolerance for harassment
Fidelity Investments Chief Executive Officer Abby Johnson, facing a series of workplace harassment allegations at her firm, made it clear Monday to employees that she will act to end such behavior.
Johnson, in an video made available to the firm's 40,000 employees, said: "We have no tolerance at our company for any type of harassment. We simply will not, and do not tolerate this type of behavior, from anyone."
Johnson spoke after Fidelity dismissed two portfolio managers recently because of inappropriate behavior. C. Robert Chow, who worked in Fidelity's allocation group, left the company this month amid allegations that he made inappropriate sexual comments at work, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private.
Chow couldn't be reached for comment by Bloomberg News. A lawyer representing him declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal, which earlier reported the incident.
Last month, Fidelity portfolio manager Gavin Baker was dismissed amid allegations that he sexually harassed a junior female employee, a person familiar with the matter said. The female employee is on leave, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, citing an attorney for her and people familiar with the matter.
-- Bloomberg News
Mexico says it has other trading options
Mexico is making clear, amid negotiations to overhaul NAFTA, that it won't buy agricultural goods from the United States at any price and may shift to South America instead if the trade relationship with America sours, the nation's economy minister said.
"It's very simple: If today I'm the top buyer of yellow corn, of fructose, rice, chicken, pork from the U.S., I need to open a space for trade with Brazil and Argentina so that at the table people realize that we have options," Ildefonso Guajardo said Sunday in a panel discussion in the central Mexican industrial city of San Luis Potosi.
Speaking at the annual Mexico Business Summit, the nation's top Nafta negotiator criticized the Trump administration's focus on a loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994. U.S. automotive production has soared as a result of productivity gains, and the nation has created millions more jobs in service industries than it lost in car production over the period, he said.
In a veiled dig at the United States, Guajardo said that "it appears that some governments aren't noticing the transformations" in the global economy.
Guajardo defended the World Trade Organization, saying that while its dispute resolution system can be improved, "under no circumstances" can the world permit a weakening of the multilateral trading system.
The U.S., Canada and Mexico wrapped up the fourth round of NAFTA talks in Washington last week and said negotiations will run through the end of March 2018, abandoning a December target to reach a deal. They also extended the time between negotiating rounds, giving themselves more space to consider proposals.
-- Bloomberg News
Aetna sells group life, disability business
Aetna, the nation's third-largest health insurer, is selling its domestic group life and disability businesses for $1.45 billion to Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co.
Aetna said the cash deal also includes its absence management business and should close next month.
Health insurance is Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna's main business. The insurer covers more than 22 million people, and its health care segment brought in $1.8 billion in pretax adjusted earnings in the second quarter.
In contrast, the insurer's group insurance business, which includes life and disability coverage, reported pretax, adjusted earnings of $42 million.
Aetna Inc. will report third-quarter results on Oct. 31. It said this deal will be immaterial to 2017 earnings per share because of the timing but will be slightly dilutive for next year.
-- The Associated Press
German automakers face antitrust probes
BRUSSELS -- The European Union's antitrust watchdog said Monday that investigators have conducted inspections at a number of German automakers over cartel concerns.
The European Commission, which polices competition, said that Monday's inspections came amid "concerns that several German car manufacturers may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices."
German national competition regulators accompanied the EU investigators on the announced inspections.
The EU Commission did not say which automakers were involved, but said the inspections do not imply guilt.
Daimler said separately that investigators were on its premises.
"We can confirm that an announced inspection is taking place at Daimler," spokesman Uta Vellberg said, adding that "we are cooperating fully with the authorities."
Volkswagen and its Audi unit also confirmed receiving visits from European inspectors, German news agency dpa reported. They used the term "announced inspections" rather than searches and said they were cooperating fully with authorities.
BMW said Friday that EU Commission staff inspected its company offices in Munich last week in connection with news media allegations that German carmakers colluded on technology including diesel emission controls.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 10/24/2017