Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Following up on last week’s article (One area where Amazon.com doesn’t have an advantage), the extent of that advantage in the U.S. was on display in the nation’s capitol this week.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Thursday urged the Federal Trade Commission to move cautiously in establishing regulations for mobile payments, and said any rules that are adopted should parallel those for the underlying form of payment and not be specific to the technology.

Former Walmart senior vice chairman Don Soderquist is the featured speaker at a Doing Business in Bentonville speakers series breakfast presentation scheduled for May 16. Plenty of folks in Northwest Arkansas have heard Soderquist speak before, however his upcoming remarks will take place amid swirling accusations of corruption that event organizers and few others in Bentonville could have envisioned months ago when his participation was confirmed.

With all sorts of media outlets riding the coattails of the New York Times investigative reporting on Walmart’s alleged bribery of Mexican officials and subsequent cover up, Forbes asked the logical question of whether paying money to government officials to get things done in Mexico is even illegal under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Read more.



 

Mexico City -- A Wall Street Journal report on Thursday said that the Mexico’s Ministry of Public Functions – the country’s public-sector watchdog – will investigate new-store permits secured by Wal-Mart’s Mexico division, Wal-Mart de Mexico.

The agency is looking for misconduct on the part of federal government employees in granting construction and other permits, according to WSJ.

By now anyone who receives this weekly newsletter has heard or read something about Walmart’s alleged Mexican bribery scandal and cover up.

New York -- A Wednesday report by Reuters said that the Mexican federal comptroller’s office has given the go-ahead to open an investigation into allegations that Wal-Mart Mexico bribed officials to expand its business in the country.

"If wrongdoing attributable to federal public officials is detected, the federal government will take action," the office said.
 

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Amidst allegations of involvement in a foreign bribery scandal, Wal-Mart Stores vice chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright has vacated his seat on the board of life insurer MetLife, according to a Tuesday announcement by Wal-Mart.
 
In a letter to MetLife CEO Steve Kandarian, Castro-Wright said that the recent events at Wal-Mart would require his “immediate and personal attention. Accordingly, I now must focus my energy in spending personal time with my family and in protecting my good name and business reputation.”