Lawyers for Wal-Mart are scheduled to brief Congressional investigators on Wednesday about the “investigative protocols” the company is using to examine bribery allegations in Mexico, according to the letter.
Lawyers for Wal-Mart Stores Inc have flagged Brazil, China, India and South Africa in addition to Mexico, as countries that represent the highest corruption risk in a global review, according to a letter from lawmakers investigating the company.
The lawyers said they were retained to review Wal-Mart policies in Mexico, Brazil and China, and later recommended the company also evaluate its operations in India and South Africa. The lawyers referred to those five countries as regions where the risk was the greatest, according to the lawmakers.
The company has acknowledged it is investigating bribery allegations involving its Mexican operations, and that it is conducting a global review of its anti-corruption compliance program, but has not provided details about the review.
According to the letter, from Representatives Elijah Cummings and Henry Waxman, both Democrats, Wal-Mart asked its lawyers to expand the review to a worldwide assessment of the company’s anti-corruption policies.
The review led Wal-Mart to revise its program to include a new procedure for escalating corruption complaints to senior management and the board’s audit committee, the letter said.
Cummings and Waxman, who are the ranking members, respectively, of the House Oversight and House Energy committees, asked the company on Tuesday to provide documents about the review and the recommendations.
[…]
