Anti-corruption

We continue to put processes and systems in place to prevent the use of improper payments, or anything of value, including gifts, hospitality or travel, to secure any improper business advantage from an official or commercial party. Last year, we delivered anti-corruption training to more than 75,000 associates from all levels of the company around the world, prioritizing those who are most likely to interact directly or indirectly with government officials. This training was conducted in local language where appropriate and was delivered in a number of ways, including via live, instructor-led training to more than 21,000 associates. We also extended our training program to third-party intermediaries and business partners.

Financial services compliance

We updated our Global Anti-Money Laundering Policy, which reaffirms our commitment to comply with all anti-money laundering laws. We also invested in human and technology resources to strengthen the compliance program, including adding to the anti-money laundering (AML) team. In addition, we expanded our monitoring capabilities to improve identification and reporting of financial activity to regulators and improved governance of the program by creating an AML oversight committee, which developed a formalized risk assessment process and revised program policies and procedures. By strengthening our team, the systems we use and the governance of our AML program, we have been able to increase the number of products offered to customers.

Antitrust

We adopted a Global Antitrust & Competition Policy to include risk-based, antitrust training to associates around the world, to help our associates identify and avoid areas of potential antitrust risk. We also implemented consistent antitrust standards and controls that apply to our global business. In the future, our priority is to increase associate antitrust awareness to further foster conditions that help protect competition, enable open markets, and enhance productivity, innovation and value for customers.

Consumer Protection

As we expand our business to serve customers in new and more convenient ways, we’re adapting to better protect consumers. For example, in the U.K., our Asda business collaborated with government regulators to develop a way for customers to pick up groceries through our “Click and Collect” service that’s in compliance with legislation on Sunday trading hours. In South Africa, our Massmart business was acknowledged by the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud for its quick resolution of customer complaints.

Data privacy

Over the past year, we’ve taken a number of steps to better protect the privacy of our associates and customers. For example, our Privacy team created a new way to digitize reports received in our U.S. stores. By eliminating the production and storage of hard copies of the reports, we reduced our paper and ink usage, as well as reduced fuel required for the transport of hard-copy versions of these documents. We enhanced storage security and will look for more opportunities to digitize and store documents in this way.