Walmart paying $282 million to settle charges over Brazil payments

[UpInArms]

Source: Marketwatch

Walmart WMT, +0.17% has agreed to pay $282 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Walmart allowed subsidiaries in Brazil, China, India, and Mexico to employ third-party intermediaries who made payments to foreign government officials, the SEC said, and failed to sufficiently investigate or mitigate anti-corruption risks. "The company could have avoided many of these problems, but instead Walmart repeatedly failed to take red flags seriously and delayed the implementation of appropriate internal accounting controls," said Charles Cain, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's FCPA Unit. Walmart consented to the SEC's order finding that it violated the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/walmart-paying-282-million-to-settle-charges-over-brazil-payments-2019-06-20?mod=mw_latestnews

[moniss]

1. A likely guess as to why

they settled but took so long to do so is that they needed time to "cook" a whole new set of books and destroy documents. The real amount of ill gotten gain is probably far in excess of the $282 million and so for Walmart it was still a big win. Just not quite as big.

[Sherman A1]

2. Chump change

To Walmart....