Walmart plans to bring expats as chief financial officer, legal counsel and compliance officer at Flipkart once it completes the $16-billion acquisition of India’s largest e-commerce company to ensure it follows anti-corruption laws.
The world’s largest retailer is looking at shifting some of its key people from Gurugram to Bengaluru, where Flipkart is based. It may tap talent from its Asda unit in the UK, which was sold to rival Sainsbury in April for $10 billion, sources said. A Walmart spokesperson declined to comment on these personnel plans.
Filling the positions of CFO, legal counsel and compliance officer at Flipkart is part of Walmart’s global push to strengthen compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits US-listed entities from indulging in corrupt practices in foreign countries. Walmart said in May it is buying a 77% stake in Flipkart, in the world’s largest e-commerce acquisition, pitting it against US rival Amazon, which is already locked in a supremacy race with Flipkart in India’s nascent, yet promising online retailing business.
Walmart has had a roller coaster ride in India since 2007, operating a chain of wholesale stores that wasn’t expanded between 2011 and early 2017. Walmart’s sole focus in India has been to strengthen compliance with the US anti-corruption laws after it emerged that company officials allegedly paid bribes in Mexico in a bid to expand there. The development had a ripple effect in other markets including India, where the US giant froze expansion of the Best Price-branded wholesale business.