Walmart to pay US$ 282 millions to settle corruption demand
The US authorities announced the department store chain must pay an amount of 282 million dollars
The United States has imposed a fine of 282 million dollars to the Walmart department store chain for failing to adequately address the corruption problems of its subsidiaries in international markets.
Specifically, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined the firm with 144 million dollars, while the Department of Justice has established a sanction of 138 million dollars.
As explained by the CNMV of the North American country, Walmart has failed to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by failing to implement an anti-corruption program in its international markets for more than a decade.
The SEC has accused the company of not having sufficiently investigated or mitigated the corruption risks in its subsidiaries in Brazil, China, India and Mexico. In those markets, Walmart allowed intermediaries to bribe government officials to obtain certain permits. On several occasions, Walmart tried to implement an anti-corruption plan, but it ended up postponing them or applying poor accounting controls.
“Walmart preferred international growth and cost cutting rather than complying with the law”, said Charles Chain, a researcher with the SEC. “The company could have avoided many of these problems, but it did not take alerts seriously and delayed the implementation of appropriate internal accounting controls,” he added.
K. Tovar
Source: Eleconomista
