The Delaware Court of Chancery last week applied Arkansas law in dismissing a Wal-Mart stockholders’ derivative action stemming from the alleged bribery of Mexican officials, finding the Delaware suit mirrored a complaint tossed by an Arkansas federal judge for failing to plead demand futility.
The Delaware case, captioned In re Wal-Mart Stores Delaware Derivative Litigation, was one of 15 derivative suits spurred by a 2012 report in The New York Times that alleged a cover-up of a supposed $24 million bribery scheme involving Wal-Mart’s Mexico subsidiary. Some of those were filed in Delaware, where Wal-Mart is incorporated, and the others proceeded in Arkansas, where the world’s largest retailer maintains its headquarters.
