In today’s 4Q earnings call presentation, Wal-Mart disclosed $6 million in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and compliance related expenses ($3 million for ongoing investigations and inquiries and $3 million for global compliance program and organizational enhancements).
Doing the math, Wal-Mart’s 3Q FY2019 FCPA and compliance-related costs are approximately $97,000 per working day.
Previous posts here and here highlighted the recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Cognizant Technology Solutions and two of its former executives.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting several issues to consider.
Timeline
As highlighted in this prior post, Cognizant disclosed its FCPA scrutiny in a September 2016 SEC filing. Thus from start to finish, Cognizant’s FCPA scrutiny lasted approximately 2.5 years. While 2.5 years is shorter than recent medians of over 4 years (see here), 2.5 years is still too long for FCPA scrutiny to last.
In yesterday’s 3Q FY2019 earnings call presentation, Wal-Mart disclosed $9 million in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and compliance related expenses ($6 million for ongoing investigations and inquiries and $3 million for global compliance program and organizational enhancements). The 3Q figures are higher than 2Q figures and 1Q figures.
Doing the math, Wal-Mart’s 3Q FY2019 FCPA and compliance-related costs are approximately $145,000 per working day.
In yesterday’s 2Q FY2019 earnings call presentation WalMart disclosed $8 million in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and compliance related expenses ($5 million for ongoing investigations and inquiries and $3 million for global compliance program and organizational enhancements).
Doing the math, Wal-Mart’s 2Q FY2019 FCPA and compliance-related costs is approximately $130,000 per working day.
Over the past approximate 6 years, I have tracked Wal-Mart’s quarterly disclosed pre-enforcement action professional fees and expenses. While some pundits ridiculed me for doing so, it quickly caught on as the popular thing to do.
Some people simply read FCPA enforcement actions, accept the enforcement theories advanced, record the enforcement statistics, and go about their day.
Not here at FCPA Professor. Just because the FCPA is a fundamentally sound statute, does not mean that FCPA enforcement is necessarily fundamentally sound.
Prior posts here and here went in-depth into the SEC’s $9.2 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Dun & Bradstreet based on the conduct of two indirect Chinese subsidiaries from 6 – 12 years ago.
This post continues the analysis by highlighting the many troubling or notable issues to consider from the enforcement action.
