Bharti Walmart, the joint venture retailer between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart, has hired international authority on corruption Ritika Ratti to oversee dealings between the two companies and ensure they meet ethical business standards, according to a report by India’s Economic Times.
Ratti, who previously held the position of vice-president of anti-corruption at US multinational financial services corporation Morgan Stanley, has been appointed Bharti Walmart’s senior director for anticorruption in India.
A company spokesperson announced that she will report directly to Walmart’s Bentonville-based global head of anti-graft department, the Economic Times reported.
Walmart introduced a new global reporting structure in 2013 that requires the finance, legal and compliance departments of Bharti Walmart to report directly to its US headquarters instead of its Indian management.
The US multinational retailer had already hired Susan Muigai as its general counsel and chief ethics officer for Bharti Walmart earlier this year following the suspension of Pankaj Madan, who had also acted as chief financial officer.
Madan is one of five officials suspended as part of an internal investigation Bharti Walmart is currently embroiled in regarding claims that its executives bribed Indian officials to obtain approvals and licenses.
