Court gives go-ahead for Wal-Mart lawsuit
A federal magistrate in Fayetteville has given the go-ahead for a shareholder lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and former Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke in the retailer's purported concealment of accusations that the company's Mexican subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico, bribed officials to hasten development there.
Duke is named in the lawsuit because he had just been put in charge of Wal-Mart International when the allegations came to light. The Michigan-based shareholder group said in its filing that Duke was told about the misconduct as early as 2005.
Wal-Mart had asked the court to dismiss the complaint filed by the City of Pontiac General Employees' Retirement System. On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser of Fayetteville recommended that the lawsuit continue. U.S. District Judge Susan Owens Hickey will have the final say.
"The motion to dismiss simply points out that even if the allegations in the complaint were true, they would not meet the standard necessary to move the case forward," Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said. "We respectfully disagree with the magistrate's opinion."
-- Cyd King
UA's Hall of Fame seeks nominations
The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville is seeking nominations for the 2015 Business Hall of Fame.
The deadline for submissions is June 1. The induction ceremony will be Feb. 13, 2015, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Four business honorees are selected by a committee of business leaders for induction into the Business Hall of Fame each year. Nominees can be living or deceased. Living inductees are required to be at least 60 years of age at the time of their selection and are to be Arkansans by birth or Arkansas residents. Nominees are not limited to University of Arkansas graduates.
Submission forms can be found at waltoncollege.uark.edu/abhf/ or a letter of nomination can be sent by mail to the Office of External Relations at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Business Building 117, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark. 72701-1201.
-- John Magsam
Arkansas Index rises 3.58 to close 333.12
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 3.58 to 333.12 Friday.
All but three stocks in the index advanced.
Murphy USA rose 4.3 percent on triple its normal volume.
Deltic Timber gained 2.9 percent in heavy trading.
P.A.M. Transportation Services was off 1.1 percent on average volume.
For the week, 11 stocks were up and six fell.
Total volume of the index was 21.8 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 24.1 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 05/10/2014