SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
Global Markets Slide as AI, Crypto, and Precious Metals Face Heightened Volatility 
Indian Refiners Scale Back Russian Oil Imports as U.S.-India Trade Deal Advances 
Toyota’s Surprise CEO Change Signals Strategic Shift Amid Global Auto Turmoil 
Trump Lifts 25% Tariff on Indian Goods in Strategic U.S.–India Trade and Energy Deal 
Australian Household Spending Dips in December as RBA Tightens Policy 
Vietnam’s Trade Surplus With US Jumps as Exports Surge and China Imports Hit Record 
FDA Targets Hims & Hers Over $49 Weight-Loss Pill, Raising Legal and Safety Concerns 
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target 
India–U.S. Interim Trade Pact Cuts Auto Tariffs but Leaves Tesla Out 
Gold and Silver Prices Slide as Dollar Strength and Easing Tensions Weigh on Metals 
Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch 
South Africa Eyes ECB Repo Lines as Inflation Eases and Rate Cuts Loom 
Anta Sports Expands Global Footprint With Strategic Puma Stake 
Oil Prices Slip as U.S.-Iran Talks Ease Middle East Tensions 
Nikkei 225 Hits Record High Above 56,000 After Japan Election Boosts Market Confidence 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
Amazon Inc. will be conducting an independent racial equity audit, and this will be led by former US attorney general Loretta Lynch. She will be probing the “disparate racial impacts” in the company’s workforce.
As per CNBC, Amazon is carrying out this probe as it faces strong pressure from its shareholders. The e-commerce giant officially joins other American companies such as Tyson Foods and Citigroup Inc. with its agreement to the said audit.
It was explained that this type of audit is an examination of companies to determine if their businesses caused and allowed discrimination in the workplace to continue. Former attorney general Lynch who is also a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP law firm, will be handling the investigation, as announced by Amazon late last week.
The racial equity audit at Amazon will be done on hourly workers. The decision for the probe comes after the company’s stakeholders urged the management to be more transparent on how its policies affect equity, diversity, and workplace inclusion in the office.
Moreover, in the recent securities filing, Amazon stated that its independent probe will assess “any disparate racial impacts on our nearly one million U.S. hourly employees resulting from our policies, programs, and practices.”
Jeff Bezos’ company also promised to share the results of the audit with the public. However, it did not mention any expected date for the completion of the probe. The shareholders have been urging Amazon to launch a racial inequities review for a while now and finally, the management has granted the request.
“Amazon has taken some measures to address racial justice and equity, including committing financial resources and publishing workforce diversity data,” part of the shareholder proposal for the audit reads. “However, Amazon faces controversies, some significant, that pose various risks and raise questions related to the company’s overall strategy and the company’s alignment with its public statements.”
The Financial Times reported that Amazon’s audit will not include its subsidiaries such as Whole Foods. Finally, the racial equity probe stemmed from the call for major companies to act on the issues regarding civil rights in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.
