Friday, July 27, 2012

Crackdown City: Feds weigh retail sweep after Wal-Mart bribery scandal





Fasten your seatbelts, people.  U.S. authorities are considering launching a wide-ranging examination of the retail industry for violations of an anti-foreign bribery law, after Wal-Mart and other retailers have come forth with their own potential offenses, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Retailers have been reviewing their international operations in light of a bribery scandal at Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT) operations in Mexico that is the subject of investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The conduct was thrown into the public spotlight in April, when a New York Times report said that management at Wal-Mart de Mexico (WALMEXV.MX) orchestrated bribes of $24 million to help it grow quickly in the last decade and that Wal-Mart's top brass tried to cover it up. Other retail companies have also since reported to U.S. agencies suspicions of their own potential violations, which in turn has the Justice Department and SEC considering a sweep of the entire industry, said the sources, who are working with companies who have unearthed potential issues but declined to be identified….

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