World's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) said Monday that the allegations of corruption at Walmart de Mexico store is part of the "ongoing investigation of potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" that it began more than a year ago.
The company revealed this in a statement released in response to the December 17 New York Times Article about allegations of corruption in Mexico. The company said the article referred to events in 2003-2004 involving the permitting and licensing process for a Teotihuacan, Mexico-based Walmart de Mexico store.
"At this point, the investigation is still ongoing and we have not yet reached final conclusions. A thorough and independent investigation will take time to complete. We wish we could say more but we will not jeopardize the integrity of the investigation," Vice President of Corporate Communications David Tovar revealed in the statement.
Walmart added that it has been cooperating with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the matter, and its audit committee of the board, comprised entirely of independent directors, is overseeing the investigation.
Walmart begun a voluntary internal review a year ago to find whether any violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was made by any of its workers, and engaged outside counsel and advisers to assist with the review. Walmart then voluntarily disclosed its internal investigation to the U.S. DoJ and the SEC.
Wal-Mart said it has not waited for the results of the investigations to begin implementing, and taking appropriate remedial measures related to the violation of the U.S. law that prohibits bribery overseas.
The company said it has over the past several months established several new compliance positions around the world, as well as directed more than 300 third-party legal and accounting experts who have dedicated in excess of 79,000 hours to this effort. Walmart has also conducted more than 85 in-country visits and more than 1,000 interviews of market personnel, spent more than $35 million on new processes and procedures, as well as conducted training sessions on the compliance issues attended by more than 19,000 associates.
"While the investigation is ongoing, we have not waited to act. Over the past 20 months, we have made significant improvements to our compliance programs around the world and have taken a number of specific, concrete actions with respect to our processes, procedures and people," Tovar added.
WMT closed Monday's regular trading session at $69.20, up $0.45 or 0.65% on a volume of 10.53 million shares.
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