Amazon.com, Inc. (/ˈæməzɒn/ or /ˈæməzən/), often referred to as simplyAmazon, is an American electronic commerce and cloud computingcompany with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world by total sales and market capitalization.^[14]Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, later diversifying to sell DVDs,Blu-rays, CDs, video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming,audiobook downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys and jewelry. The company also producesconsumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, andFire TV—and is the world's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services (IaaS).^[15] Amazon also sells certain low-end products like USB cables under its in-house brand AmazonBasics.

Amazon has separate retail websites for the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, India and Mexico. Amazon also offers international shipping to certain other countries for some of its products.^[16]In 2011, it professed an intention to launch its websites in Poland^[17] andSweden.^[18]

In 2015, Amazon surpassed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the United States by market capitalization,^[19] and is as of 2016, fifth largest company overall.^[20]

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy of the Eurozone, which consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world. It is one of the world's most important central banks and is one of the seveninstitutions of the European Union (EU) listed in the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The capital stock of the bank is owned by the central banks of all 28 EU member states.^{[needs update]} The Treaty of Amsterdam established the bank in 1998, and it is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. As of 2015the President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy, former member of the World Bank,^[2] and former managing director of the Goldman Sachs international division (2002–2005).^[2][3] The bank primarily occupied the Eurotower prior to, and during, the construction of thenew headquarters.

The primary objective of the ECB, mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB,^[4] is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone. Its basic tasks, set out in Article 3 of the Statute,^[4] are to set and implement the monetary policy for the Eurozone, to conduct foreign exchange operations, to take care of the foreign reserves of the European System of Central Banks and operation of the financial market infrastructure under the TARGET2payments system and the technical platform (currently being developed) for settlement of securities in Europe (TARGET2 Securities). The ECB has, under Article 16 of its Statute,^[4] the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins, but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand.

The ECB is governed by European law directly, but its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital. Its capital is €11 billion held by the national central banks of the member states as shareholders.^[5] The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the states' population and GDP, but the capital key has been adjusted.^[5]Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral.

European Central Bank

Emblem Seat
Headquarters	Frankfurt, Germany
Coordinates	50.1089°N 8.7034°E
Established	1 June 1998
President	Mario Draghi
Central bank of	Eurozone[show]
Currency	Euro EUR (ISO 4217)
Reserves	0.526 trillion euro in total[show]
Bank rate	0.00% (Main refinancing operations)[1] 0.25% (Marginal lending facility)[1]
Interest on reserves	-0.40% (Deposit facility)[1]
Preceded by	19 national banks[show]
Website	www.ecb.europa.eu