The company declined to make Duke or any other executives available for comment, and said the investigation was continuing. It said it began an investigation into its compliance with anti-bribery laws last autumn. Wal-Mart said in a statement on Saturday it was “deeply concerned” about the allegations in the Times report. He led Wal-Mart’s e-commerce business from 2010 until January this year, and is set to retire on July 1 after the company said last September that he was going to leave to spend more time with his family. The company also said it had taken steps at the Mexico unit, which is widely known as Walmex, to boost internal controls to make sure it was FCPA compliant.Ĭastro-Wright became CEO of Walmex in 2003 and was named CEO of Walmart US in 2005 and became a vice chairman in 2008. Wal-Mart said it had disclosed its probe to the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission. “If a company can say those involved in the questionable conduct are already gone, the DOJ is likely to look more favorably on the company and current management.” “Among the remedial actions is ‘house cleaning’ of anyone involved in illegal conduct,” said Richard Cassin, a lawyer who is an expert on the FCPA and writes a blog about it. law that forbids the payment of bribes to foreign government officials. Department of Justice concerning possible breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a U.S. One option Wal-Mart will have is to remove some of those involved in the alleged bribery or cover-up as this could make it easier to reach an out-of-court settlement with the U.S. authorities, and the departure of some executives. They could lead to a time-consuming global probe, substantial financial penalties paid to U.S. Legal and retail experts said that the allegations, if proven true, could badly hamper the company and its management for years. or Mexican law enforcement officials, the Times reported. Wal-Mart sent investigators to Mexico City and found a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million, but the company’s leaders shut down the investigation and neglected to notify U.S. The New York Times reported on Saturday that in September 2005, a senior Wal-Mart lawyer received an email from Sergio Cicero Zapata, a former executive at the company's largest foreign unit, Wal-Mart de Mexico WALMEXV.MX, describing how the subsidiary had paid bribes to obtain permits to build stores in the country. People walk past a Wal-Mart store with a banner reading "Low prices, every day, in everything" in Mexico City April 21, 2012.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |