Sports Direct, Suzuki, Santander: Business news in brief on Friday June 3

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley to miss Commons committee; Suzuki’s HQ is raided in emissions clampdown; Spanish police ask Santander for documents in HSBC tax probe

Billionaire Mike Ashley had been ordered to appear in Westminster to give evidence about working practices. (Reuters)

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley to miss Commons committee

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has pulled out of a planned hearing in front of MPs blaming his lawyer’s schedule for the decision.

In a fresh twist set to intensify his row with the Business, Innovations and Skills Committee (BIS), Ashley said his legal representative was “unavailable” so he could not attend the session on June 7.

The committee has been seeking to question him over his company’s treatment of employees. It previously said Ashley could be held in contempt if he failed to attend.

Suzuki’s HQ is raided in emissions clampdown

Suzuki’s headquarters have been raided by the Japanese authorities as part of an on-going probe into a fuel economy testing scandal.

The company last week said it failed to use tests complying with Japanese regulations on some vehicles.

Suzuki added the issue did not apply to cars sold outside of Japan. Its shares were down by almost 1 per cent on the Tokyo stock exchange on Friday. The raid is the latest development in scrutiny of car emissions after the VW scandal.

Spanish police ask Santander for documents in HSBC tax probe

Spanish police have raided the headquarters of Santander Bank in Madrid on Friday following disclosures of money laundering at HSBC’s Swiss private bank.

The probe is linked to tax avoidance but how much money is involved is unclear at this stage, a court source said.

The Spanish investigation began after Herve Falciani, a former IT employee at HSBC's Geneva private bank, leaked information on clients and their tax situation.

Glassdoor opens up another $40 million

Glassdoor, a job review site has raised $40 million (£28 million) from investors including US investment management giant T Rowe Price, Battery Ventures, Sutter Hill, Tiger Global and Google.

It takes the total raised by the California-based company since its inception in 2007 to $200 million.

The site currently has 30 million monthly unique users, with data on 540,000 companies in 190 countries. In the UK, it has 2.5 million visits each month, up 50 per cent in the last year.