BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores here said Friday it will announce final results Monday of the shareholder vote to reelect members of the company's board, though preliminary votes indicated all had been reelected, according to published reports.
Since members of the Walton family own close to 50% of the outstanding shares, all directors were expected to be reelected. However, industry observers said a "no" vote by at least 10% of shareholders would be significant. Some shareholder groups had advocated the removal of several directors in the wake of allegations the company bribed officials in Mexico. The chain has said it has launched an internal investigation of the allegations and is overhauling its compliance programs.
Robson Walton, the company's chairman and son of its founder, addressed the issue in remarks to the meeting. "We will not tolerate violations of the FCPA [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] or ethical wrongdoing of any kind," he was reported as saying.
Mike Duke (right), president and chief executive officer, echoed his comments. "Let me be clear. Wal-Mart is committed to compliance and integrity everywhere we operate," he said. "And we're working to continually strengthen our compliance efforts around the world. I want to personally assure you we're doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this matter. We will take appropriate action when the investigation is complete.
"And let me speak directly to our leaders and associates: If you work for Wal-Mart, there is no gray area between right and wrong. It's either the right thing to do, or it shouldn't be done at all. This is the standard we'll all live up to at Wal-Mart in everything we do. We will not accept anything less than integrity."
Protests that were expected during the meeting did not materialize, according to the Associated Press.
