LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's grocery regulator on Friday launched an investigation into Amazon ( AMZN ), probing whether the retail giant breached rules on timely supplier payments over a three-year period.

The Groceries Code Adjudicator said it suspects Amazon ( AMZN ) violated paragraph 5 of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which mandates prompt payment to suppliers.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Sam Tabahriti)