A business is often, maybe even entirely, opposed to free markets and competition. There are numerous transparency and disclosure regulations to inhibit such behavior. I'd put this in the category of fraud: deception intending to result in financial gain. The problem is politics, in particular the Republican variety, is too forgiving, or even servile, when it comes to accommodating big business fraud under the auspice that all regulation is bad, and it is regulations that inhibit free market behavior, rather than encourage it.
Strong anti-fraud and competition (anti-trust) laws are absolutely necessary to have something even crudely approximating a free market.