BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --The following statement can be attributed to David Tovar, Vice President, Corporate Communications.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090914/WALMARTLOGO )
"We take compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) very seriously and are committed to having a strong and effective global anti-corruption program in every country in which we operate.
"We will not tolerate noncompliance with FCPA anywhere or at any level of the company.
"Many of the alleged activities in The New York Times article are more than six years old. If these allegations are true, it is not a reflection of who we are or what we stand for. We are deeply concerned by these allegations and are working aggressively to determine what happened.
"In the fall of last year, the Company, through the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, began an extensive investigation related to compliance with the FCPA. That investigation is being conducted by outside legal counsel and forensic accountants, who are experts in FCPA compliance, and they are reporting regularly to the Audit Committee.
"We have met voluntarily with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to self-disclose the ongoing investigation on this matter. We also filed a 10-Q in December to inform our shareholders of the investigation. The Company's outside advisors have and will continue to meet with the DOJ and SEC to report on the progress of the investigation.
"We are committed to getting to the bottom of this matter. The audit committee and the outside advisors have at their disposal all the resources they may need to pursue a comprehensive and thorough investigation.
"We have taken a number of actions in Mexico to establish stronger FCPA compliance. We have implemented enhanced FCPA compliance measures including:
- robust policies and procedures;
- internal controls;
- training;
- enhanced auditing procedures; and
- issue escalation and remediation protocols.
"In addition, we have established a dedicated FCPA compliance director in Mexico that reports directly to our Home Office in Bentonville.
"The investigation is ongoing and we don't have a full explanation of what happened. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further on the specific allegations until we have finished the investigation.
"We are working hard to understand what occurred in Bentonville more than six years ago and are committed to conducting a complete investigation before forming conclusions. We don't want to speculate or weave stories from incomplete inquiries and limited recollections, as others might do.
"Unfortunately, we realize that, at this point, there are some unanswered questions. We wish we could say more but we will not jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.
"We are confident we are conducting a comprehensive investigation and if violations of our policies occurred here, we will take appropriate action.
"Over the last several years, Walmart has focused diligently on FCPA compliance and implemented a series of changes to our FCPA compliance program to further strengthen them. This work is ongoing and continues today.
"As part of that effort, in the spring of 2011, we initiated a worldwide review of our anti-corruption program. We are taking a deep look at our policies and procedures in every country in which we operate. This includes developing and implementing recommendations for FCPA training, anti-corruption safeguards, and internal controls.
"Acting with integrity is the essence of our corporate culture. We have the same high standards of integrity for every associate - regardless of his or her position - and everyone is held accountable for those standards.
"In a large global enterprise such as Walmart, sometimes issues arise despite our best efforts and intentions. When they do, we take them seriously and act as quickly as possible to understand what happened. We take action and work to implement changes so the issue doesn't happen again. That's what we're doing today.
"Walmart is committed to doing the right thing and we are working hard every day to become an even better company."
For additional background, please click here to view the key events in Walmart's anti-corruption compliance programs.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 27 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com, and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
